A Twist of Fate, A Death of Destiny
by Feyfa14Frost
Summary: What if things had gone differently in The Fires Of Idirsholas? What if different choices and decisions had been made on that day? What if Morgana had willingly drank the poison in order to save Camelot? A story on what could have happened if Merlin had decided to do things another way. Arwen and Mergana pairings. Rated T because I'm paranoid.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everyone! Okay, so this is my very first story! I'm quite excited about this. It just came to my mind while watching Merlin and before I knew it, I've written this. This is my first fanfic so please please please go easy on me! Hahaha! I'm kind of rusty in my writing so if there are any mistakes in this story or something does not seem right, do let me know. That would be great help! Oh, just in case anyone does not know, this fanfic starts from the episode The Fires Of Idirsholas. It is the part where they are in the servant's room and are trying to think of a way to get King Uther out of Camelot.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the show Merlin or any of the characters in Merlin.(Because if I did, Mergana would have totally happened in the show!)**

**Well, without further ado, sit back and enjoy...**

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CHAPTER 1

Merlin collapsed onto the floor in exhaustion. He took in huge gulps of air trying to calm down his racing heart and steady his breathing. He watched as Arthur did the same while Morgana headed towards the window of the room to gaze out at the courtyard below. Merlin was at war with himself. A battle was going on in his mind. The dragon's words were still fresh in his memory.

_10 minutes earlier_

"_Kilgharrah! I need your help! Please Kilgharrah!" Merlin called out as he rushed into the Dragon's Cave._

"_Help? Help you? Ha! You always say the same thing! You expect me to keep doing as you ask Merlin? Why should I?" the dragon snorted in disbelief._

"_Time and time again you refuse to give me anything in return. Now, you shall face the consequences. Camelot shall fall and there is nothing you can do about it!"_

"_I know I promised that I would free you from your chains and I will! I swear it on my mother's life! I will set you free! You have to help me! Please!" cried Merlin in desperation._

"_Your mother's life? Well, her life matters more to you than your own. Fine, I believe you shall honour your oath," the dragon replied after a moment of silently thinking on what Merlin had said._

"_It is one thing to cast a spell that puts everyone to sleep. The power to maintain it on the other hand is a very different matter. It will take more than just words to break this enchantment. You must eradicate the source young warlock!" Kilgharrah continued._

"_Great! So I just have to get rid of the source? Well then, what is it?" Merlin asked eagerly._

"_No Merlin, not what, but who. Such a spell would need a living vessel to give it strength. The source of this spell is that witch, the Lady Morgana. I have warned you about her before but you did not take heed. She is dangerous and now she has chosen to turn her back on her own."_

"_No, it can't be. I refuse to believe that she is evil," Merlin sighed as he shook his head._

"_T-there has to be some sort of mistake. How do I stop her Kilgharrah?" Merlin then asked._

"_Well that's easy Merlin. You must kill her!"_

Merlin had been utterly horrified upon hearing the dragon's proclamation. However, Kilgharrah had insisted that if Merlin did not do anything, Camelot would be doomed. Merlin sat on the ground in silence as his mind kept replaying what Kilgharrah had told him. There had to be another way to end this. There just had to be. He could not kill Morgana! She was his friend. Wasn't she? She just couldn't be evil. Merlin's hand subconsciously reached to his pocket where the bottle of Hemlock laid. It felt heavy in his hand. Too heavy. As if it was made of lead. A burden to be carried. A reminder of the difficult decision he would have to make. Merlin was suddenly jolted out of his reverie at the sound of Arthur calling out his name. His head snapped up and he looked towards Arthur's direction only to find the prince staring back at him intently as if he was waiting for a reply.

"Merlin, did you hear what I just said? You seemed to be staring off as if in a daze, while I was talking!" Arthur exclaimed in an aspirated manner.

"Umm…err, I'm sorry sire, what did you say? I wasn't paying attention," Merlin replied rather sheepishly.

Arthur let out a groan and shook his head. He then explained to Merlin what he had said earlier. Arthur had decided to abandon the "dress King Uther as a servant plan" plan as he was sure that Morgause would still be able to easily identify Uther. He had opted on getting Uther out of Camelot to safety instead.

"Alright! But we will have to go as soon as possible. Hey! Remember the cart in the square we saw earlier before Arthur? We can use that to leave Camelot," suggested Merlin.

"Merlin, that's a great idea! Good thinking. Well come on then, we have to get my father out of here quickly. Merlin, I want you to go outside and keep a lookout for any of our enemies. Find a way for us to get to the square without getting spotted. Morgana, you stay here and help me make a makeshift stretcher for my father."

Having heard the plan and knowing what to do, Merlin then proceeds to head out into the corridor. An eerie and foreboding silence shrouds the empty corridor. The only sound to be heard is the echoing of Merlin's footsteps as he walks down the quiet hallway. As he turns into the corner, Merlin suddenly comes face to face with a Medhir knight that seemed to appear out of nowhere. Merlin's eyes widen and he lets out gasp of shock. On seeing Merlin, the knight raises his sword, preparing to attack. Just as the knight is about to bring down his sword and strike, Merlin yells out, "Atrice!"

Merlin's eyes flashed a golden hue and the knight is thrown backwards by an unseen force. Merlin quickly takes off, running as fast as he can back to the room the others are in.

"Arthur, there's no way we can make it out to the courtyard carrying your father. It is too dangerous. There are knights walking about patrolling the whole area," Merlin says to Arthur upon arriving back in the room.

"No, there has to be-" Arthur stops talking immediately. They all freeze when hear the approach of a knight outside the room.

"Merlin! Morgana! Hide!" Arthur calls out softly.

The three of them quickly rush to find a place to hide. They hold their breaths trying to keep as quiet as possible as they wait silently, their fear rising as each second passes. Their hearts pumping wildly in their chests. The door to the room opens slowly and the knight enters the room.

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**Soooo, what do you all think? Should I continue this? Yes? No? Do comment! See that button below? Yeah, it is totally calling out to you. I would love to know what you all think of this chapter. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey there everyone! I'm back! Hahaha! Thank you to everyone who has added this story to your favourites list and followed this story. Also, thanks to those who left such nice reviews. I'm glad to hear that you readers are enjoying the story so far. Well then, let's not keep you waiting. Enjoy!**

** Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin. I know, pretty saddening right?**

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Chapter 2

The knight takes slow steps, going further into the room. Arthur takes a deep breath. He unsheathes his sword and charges out to the knight.

"Go! Protect the king! Get him out of here!" Arthur roared over the metallic clanging of swords as he fought off the knight.

Merlin and Morgana rush towards the king's side and proceed to quickly drag him out of the room. They both pull King Uther out into the hallway. Breathing laboured and hearts racing, the both of them struggle to haul the king down the corridor.

As they continue to drag him, another knight suddenly appears and starts to advance towards them with its sword raised. Upon seeing the knight, their fear rises and adrenaline kicks in, driving them to start heaving harder. They are desperate to put as much distance between themselves and the knight as possible.

Then, the worst possible and imaginable thing happens. Morgana trips and falls to the ground, landing directly in the knight's path.

"Merlin… Merlin help! Merlin! Morgana screams out, her calls becoming louder and more frenzied each time as her fear mounts higher and higher.

Morgana's gaze was now fully focused on the knight in front who was steadily coming closer towards her, her eyes not once leaving that direction. Her limbs seemed to have lost their ability to function properly and she could not get up from the ground although her mind was screaming at her to do so. All she could manage to attempt was to shuffle backwards, inching away bit by bit in panic.

Merlin on the other hand, has made a split-second decision to keep dragging the king to safety. However, as the knight approaches Morgana he falters and stops what he is doing. His mind is uncertain. Morgana screams his name again in a pleading manner. What should he do? Save Morgana? Or save the king?

He watches as the knight closes in on Morgana, looming over her with its sword raised and about to deliver the fatal strike. Morgana's eyes were filled with raw fear. She cowers and curls up against the wall of the corridor, too afraid to look up at the knight. The knight swings his weapon.

Suddenly, the most unlikely thing happens. The knight stop just before the blade reaches her. It starts to stare at her intently. The knight then turns away from her and start heading towards Merlin. Merlin immediately resumes dragging the king. His movements become more frantic as the knight gets nearer. The knight is gaining on him.

Too tired to continue, Merlin stops and raises his hand towards the knight. Just as he is about to utter a spell and unleash his magic, Arthur unexpectedly arrives and jumps in to the rescue. He fights off the knight and manages to kick it down a spiral staircase. Merlin then continues to drag King Uther. He heads towards the Council Chamber, Arthur and Morgana following closely behind.

Arriving at their destination, Merlin and Arthur bar the door. Arthur turns to face Morgana. He starts demanding to know where to find the potion Gaius gave her.

"Morgana, do you know where that potion is? Do you have any idea as to where Gaius may have kept it? Tell me!" Arthur asks her.

"I- I don't know! Really I don't!" Morgana cries back.

"Are you absolutely sure? You really do-"

"Arthur, please enough. It's no use. Stop asking her. It won't make a difference anyways. We're trapped in here." Merlin cuts in, interrupting Arthur from questioning Morgana further.

Arthur lets out a huff. He turns away and proceeds to walk towards where the king lays. As Arthur is distracted tending to his sleeping father, Merlin decides to question Morgana on what had happened earlier on in the corridor.

"Morgana, tell me truth. Earlier on, when we were in the hallway, why didn't that knight kill you?" Merlin demands.

"I don't know Merlin, I really have no idea! M-maybe it's because I'm a woman?" Morgana replied weakly in an uncertain manner.

Merlin stared silently at her, contemplating her answer, trying to figure out if she was really telling the truth. He had begun to doubt her when she gave her answer. She honestly did not seem to know the reason behind why the knight had not harmed her. Then again, she could be lying. If she was then she deserved an award.

She was truly convincing and if he hadn't been cautioned by Kilgharrah to be wary of her, Merlin would have probably believed her immediately. Kilgharrah's warnings about Morgana being dangerous and not be trusted came back to him. Was it possible that the old dragon had been right? Could it be possible that Morgana was indeed evil?

No! He must not allow himself to think so negatively! There was no concreate evidence to show that she was truly evil. He could not judge her just based on assumptions. He had to find prove first. Until then, there was still hope for Morgana. He couldn't lose faith in her and give up so easily. Arthur approaches him and starts talking.

"We have to find a way to stop the attack."

"Arthur the only way to such powerful magic like this is to destroy the source-" Merlin paused, not able to go on.

"Which is?" Arthur prompts.

Should he continue? Could he actually reveal the truth about the source? Was he really capable of doing that? Merlin opened his mouth again and tried to speak but the words wouldn't come out. He couldn't bring himself to tell Arthur that Morgana was, in fact, the source. He just couldn't do it.

Instead, what left his mouth was, "I- I don't know what the source is."

"Then there is no other option is there? We must leave Camelot and get the king to safety." Arthur states.

Merlin remains silent, not making any comments. What was there to say anyways? He had not told Arthur the truth. He couldn't bring it upon himself to reveal the secret about Morgana earlier on, so now, all he could do was to agree to the plan.

Arthur looks out the window from the Council Chambers, spotting the cart in the courtyard below. He instructs Merlin and Morgana to cut the curtains in the room and make them into a long rope that they can lower King Uther from the window with. He then prepares to leave.

"Merlin and Morgana, both of you stay in here and prepare the rope. I am going to fight my way to the courtyard and bring the cart over to the window."

"But Arthur, you can't! It's a suicidal-" Morgana starts, trying to argue against the idea, but he interrupts her.

"Morgana please… just-just do as I say. It is the only option left."

Arthur and Merlin walk towards the barred doors and stand before them. Merlin tries to talk Arthur into letting him come along. However, Arthur remains steadfast to his decision. He tells Merlin to stay with Morgana.

Their breaths have started to become laboured and their eyelids have begun to feel very heavy. They become drowsier as each second passes on. The sleeping spell has started to take effect on them. As they begin to drift off to sleep, Merlin shakes his head in an effort to wake up and starts mumbling.

"So, Arthur… how are you feeling?"

"Never better… get me a pillow would you?" comes the reply.

"Don't mess around Arthur!" Merlin says and glances towards Arthur, only to find that the Prince has started to dose off.

"Arthur… Arthur, get up! We can't… fall asleep. Got to… got to stay awake…"

Finding that there is no other way to wake the prince, he turns to his last resort. Merlin raises his hand and proceeds to slap Arthur across the face. Arthur immediately jolts out of his sleepy demur and yells out.

"Merlin!"

"That's better isn't it?! At least you're awake now!" Merlin cried out.

"If you ever do that again-" Arthur warns.

"Well, don't fall asleep then!" Merlin cuts in.

Arthur takes a water flask that Merlin has with him and pours it over his face. As they unbar the door, they say their goodbyes.

"If I need a servant in the next life..." Arthur says.

"Don't ask me!" Merlin replies quickly.

Arthur lets out a laugh. He braces himself and readies his sword. Taking a deep breath, he nods towards Merlin and then proceeds to open the door of the council chambers. Arthur rushes through the doors and immediately clashes swords with the knights outside. The battle has begun.

Merlin quickly bars the door as soon as Arthur steps out to fight off the knights, hearing the sounds of combat. Merlin turns to Morgana who stares back at him, the fear and worry evident on her beautiful face.

"Merlin… he isn't going to survive out there… we've got to do something!" Morgana cries out.

"I know." Merlin simply replies.

Outside, the battle rages on. Arthur lashes out with his sword raining blow upon blow onto the soldiers as he tries to drive them back. The hissing sounds of the blade can be heard as he slashes his sword through the air.

Arthur's hair is matted and plastered to his forehead, beads of sweat dripping down the side of his face. He grunts as he swings his sword striking a knight. He is starting to get tired, the effort taking its toll on him. But he bravely fights on, delivering lethal strikes to his opponents.

Meanwhile back in the council chambers, Merlin tells Morgana to start tearing the curtain up while he makes the rope. He had made his decision. He had to kill her even though he really loathed the idea of doing such a dastardly deed. However, there was no other way.

Morgana starts doing her job, becoming too distracted to notice what Merlin is doing. With his back to her, Merlin pours the hemlock into the water flask and then turns, offering it to Morgana.

"Here, have some water." Merlin says, holding out the water flask towards Morgana.

"I'm not thirsty," Morgana replies shaking her head as she does so.

She looks back down and resumes tearing up the curtain. Merlin stares at her. What should he do now? He was torn between trying to keep coaxing her to take a drink from the flask and telling her the whole truth. He really did not want to kill her. Just thinking about it made him sick to the core.

She couldn't possibly have done this intentionally. Morgause must have cast the enchantment on Morgana without her knowledge. He had to take the risk. He just had to give her one last chance. Merlin took in a huge gulp of air. That was it. He'd had enough of this. Forget about whatever Kilgharrah had said earlier on. He couldn't do it anymore. Morgana was his friend and she was a good person at heart. He had to tell her immediately.

"Morgana, you need to listen to me very carefully now." He says in a solemn voice.

She immediately looks up to meet his gaze, her eyes focusing intently on him and not once leaving that direction. He continues.

"I know you are absolutely terrified and you may be confused about what I'm about to tell you, but you have to do it. I need you to drink from this flask now Morgana! This flask does not contain ordinary water. It is a powerful potion. Remember what I told Arthur about not knowing what the source is? Well, I lied." He pauses to catch his breath and then he goes on.

" The truth is you are the source Morgana! I just couldn't bear to tell Arthur! You were enchanted by Morgause. She cast a sleeping spell and made you the source. That's why everyone is asleep. That's why you are the only one awake. Please you have to believe me!" Merlin says desperately.

Morgana simply stares back at him. Pure shock shows on her face.

"What- What do you m- mean Merlin? What are you t- talking about? That- That can't b- be true! Morgause wouldn't… right? H- How do you know all this Merlin?" Morgana asks with a trembling voice.

"Because… because I… I have magic Morgana!" Merlin says, looking at her intensely, his gaze not once faltering.

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**Yea, sooo I guess I'll guess stop here now. Well, what do you all think of this chapter? It's starting to get interesting huh?**

**IMPORTANT! I'll try and get the next chapter up soon. Hopefully that is. No promises though. I'm pretty busy because I got lots of stuff on. This year is going to be a really hectic year for me, especially school life. I've got new positions and roles I have to take up which means I'll be participating in a lot more school activities. So, I do hope you readers will understand and be patient with me if updates are slow. I'll try my best to post a chapter every 2-3 weeks but I can't promise that it will happen every time. Thank you for taking your time to read this. Do leave a review. It would really make my day! :D**

**~Feyfa**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey there everyone! It's time for a new chapter! Yes, I took really long and I'm so sorry! Update time! Hahaha! Thank you to everyone who has added this story to your favorites list and followed this story. I'm pretty amazed that I got so many followers. Definitely more then I had expected. Thank you readers for waiting so patiently for an update. Well then, read on! **

** Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin. ( But I really want to...)**

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**CHAPTER 3**

The moment those words left his mouth, Morgana's expression immediately changed. Her brows furrowed into a deep frown and her eyes narrowed into thin slits.

"Merlin, this isn't the time for jokes like that so quit messing around! It's not funny!" she hissed out.

Morgana opened her mouth once again and was about to continue with her speech however, before she could go on, Merlin's eyes flashed a brilliant shade of gold and the water flask slowly floated up in front of Morgana. Her eyes widened in disbelief and her hand flew up to her mouth as she stifled a gasp of shock.

"Oh my goodness! Y-You do have magic!" Morgana cried out.

Then, the full weight of such a revelation came crashing down upon Morgana like a sledgehammer. Merlin had magic. He had magic and he had not told her. Her features of shock and disbelief were then replaced with a flash of hurt and betrayal which quickly morphed into that of pure burning fury at the realization.

"How could you Merlin! How could you!" she shrieked in rage.

"I was so terrified and scared for my life when I first discovered my magic! I came to you for help and you didn't tell me you had magic!? I was so alone! You could have helped me! How could you!? I thought you were my friend! I TRUSTED YOU!"

Morgana's eyes started flickering between gold and green, a sign that she was losing her control over her magic due to her overwhelming emotions. Merlin flinched upon hearing her harsh words. Guilt racked through his entire being and he looked down towards the floor, too ashamed to meet her gaze.

"Morgana, I'm sorry. But I did try to help you. I-I sent you to the druids."

"It wasn't enough Merlin. I was still scared. You could have given me much more help! You could have told me!" Morgana hissed out.

"I know! Okay!? I know and I'm sorry for everything. Yes, I should have told you about my magic a long time ago but I was scared too alright!? I was terrified Morgana! Terrified! It was hard for me living in the shadows and hiding what I am too! There was so many times that I came really close to telling you but then, I always stopped before doing it out of fear and I'm sorry!" Merlin cried out, his voice beginning to crack.

Morgana just stared back at him silently, giving him a cold look. He almost lost it then. Merlin was close to tears as he poured out his feelings. All the guilt he had bottled inside him flowed out as he spoke.

"I'm so, so sorry Morgana! I want to explain everything to you but there isn't any time right now. Camelot is in grave danger. You must drink the potion in the water flask now! It's the only way to break the enchantment. I promise you I will tell you everything once this is over. Please Morgana, there is no more time left!" Merlin says desperately.

"H-How can I trust you? Y-You expect me to believe you after you've lied to me!? Merl-"

"Morgana you have to! Please! I know you don't trust me but you have to! It's the only way! Think of all the people in the castle! Think of Arthur and Gwen! Innocent lives will be lost if we don't stop the attack! Please Morgana! Surely you won't let them die!? You are a kind and caring person! If not for me, do it for them! Please! We're running out of time Morgana!" Merlin begged in a tone that was filled with despair and desperation.

His eyes had a crazed and wild look as he gazed at her in sheer panic, the terror plastered on his face. Morgana closed her eyes and let out an exhale of air.

"I'll do it. But I'm only doing this for Camelot and all the innocent people in this castle. It isn't over yet Merlin. You still have a lot of explaining to do after this." Morgana spoke all of a sudden.

Morgana immediately holds the water flask up. She uncorks the cap and quickly brings it to her lips, taking a gulp of the poisoned water. Merlin simply looks at her in a stunned manner. He couldn't believe what he just saw. Morgana had taken a drink from the flask.

Immediately after drinking from the flask, Morgana starts to feel light headed. An itchy feeling begins forming in her throat. She tries to stand straight but the dizzying sensation only worsens and she sways to her right. Merlin rushes in to catch her as she falls and she lands safely in his arms.

He slowly lowers himself to the ground, holding on to her carefully. By then, the irritation in her throat earlier on had bloomed into a burning sensation. She was having problems breathing. Her vision was blurry and clouded. She lets out strangled gasps as she tried to take in air.

"M-Merlin…*gasps*…throat…hurts…*gasps*…so much…*gasps*…help…please…*gasp*…hurts…" Morgana said as her eyes filled with tears from the pain.

Merlin just hugs her and holds on tightly to Morgana as she rests on his chest. Tears are streaming down his face. He can feel Morgana shuddering above him each time she tries taking a breath. It pains him deeply to see her like this. Each choked sound that she makes is like a knife to his heart.

"Shh…its okay…I'm here…shh…Morgana…everything will be fine…you'll be alright…" Merlin says softly as he runs his hand through her raven black locks in gentle strokes.

The pain is intense. She is suffocating. Every breath she takes in causes her chest to hurt even more. She can hardly open her eyes. Her head is swimming. She can only feel the gentle touch of Merlin's hand and his soothing voice.

Everything else is a blur. The only thing her mind can register is the pain. It's too much. She is spinning. She is falling. Finally, all of her surroundings fade away and her world turns black.

Merlin lets out a broken sob the moment he feels Morgana going limp in his arms. He looks down at her and softly caresses her face.

Meanwhile, outside the doors, Morgause watches the knights' battle, but all of a strange look appears on her face. Morgause clutches her throat. A weird dizzy sensation comes over her.

She widens her eyes as one though immediately comes to mind. Morgana is in trouble. She then races toward the doors of the Council Chamber. With magic, the doors are thrown open and Morgause rushes to Morgana, pushing Merlin aside.

"What has he done to you?" Morgause asked as she held Morgana.

"I had to," Merlin simply says as he pushes himself off the ground and stares at Morgause.

"You poisoned her! Tell me what you used and I can save her."

"You left me no choice! If you want her to survive, you will listen to what I have to say. First, I want you to call of the attack. You will also swear on the Triple Goddesses that you will leave Camelot immediately after doing so and that you will never return here." Merlin says.

"You are not to harm anyone in Camelot and you will stay away from Morgana. I don't want her becoming corrupted by your evil ways. She is a kind and caring person and I won't let you destroy the goodness in her," Merlin continues.

"How dare you! Do you have any idea who you are speaking to!? You will tell me how to cure her! I am a High Priestess of the old religion and you are nothing but a simple servant! I could kill you here right now with just a wave of my hand!" Morgause screeched.

"I don't care who you are!" Merlin shouted back.

"I won't tell you anything. I'll be the one to administer the cure to her. No one else will do it! I may just be a servant but I am the key to Morgana's survival. Her fate lies in your hands now. Whether she lives or not depends on your decision! So go ahead, kill me! I dare you to! But then, Morgana dies with me!"

"You expect me to trust you with her life!? After you poisoned her!? How would I know if you keep to your word or not? I wouldn't be able to visit her!" Morgause sneered at Merlin.

"You have magic. I'm quite sure you can figure out a way to check in on her. You probably won't believe it but I don't want this any more than you do. I care about Morgana too. Now, do you agree or not? Morgana doesn't have much time left. There is only a few hours till the poison fully spreads and then she'll die." Merlin states in a cold tone.

Morgause glared at Merlin. There was definitely something mysterious and unsettling about the boy who stood in front of her. He did not seem to be afraid of her at all and even dared to challenge her.

She could tell that there was more than meets the eye when it came to him. But there wasn't time to figure things out. Morgana's life was at stake. Morgause makes her decision and mutters an incantation under her breath.

"Astýre ús þanonweard! Cnihtas Medhires, éower sáwla. Rid eft ond forsliehð eft." (This is the possible meaning, not very sure though: Guide us from there. Medhir Warriors, your souls ready again and destroy again.)

Outside, the knights collapse lifelessly to the ground and Arthur blinks in astonishment. Meanwhile back in The Council Chambers, Morgause is glaring at Merlin as she holds Morgana closely.

"I've called of the knights. I swear on the Triple Goddesses that I'll leave Camelot now and never return here." Morgause hisses out.

"There, I've done it, now save her!"

Merlin walks up to Morgause. He bends down and reaches out his hands to take Morgana into his arms. Just as he is about to do so, there is a loud commotion outside and Arthur bursts through the doorway with a group of newly awakened knights behind him.

"What have you done to my father?" Arthur yells out.

"He's fine Arthur!" Merlin calls out.

Arthur looks around the room and spots Uther gradually waking up behind the throne. He then looks towards Morgause and sees her cradling Morgana.

"Morgana?!" Arthur calls out.

When she does not reply, he makes a move towards her. Morgause immediately holds out her hand in a defense stance.

"Keep away from her!" Morgause snarls out.

Morgause looks down towards Morgana and hugs Morgana towards her one last time. There is a pained expression on her face. She then turns to Merlin and gives a look that signals that she is about to make her leave. He gives her a subtle nod in return.

"This isn't over Uther Pendragon! Bedyrne ús! Astýre ús þanonweard!" Morgause yells out. (Meaning: Conceal! Guide us from there.)

A strong gust of air starts blowing in the room. The gale picks up speed and soon becomes a swirl of howling wind. All of a sudden, Morgause disappears in a magical cloud of smoke.

The moment Morgause is gone, Merlin rushes up towards Morgana and drops to his knees beside her. He pulls her up against him and carefully tucks away the loose strands of hair covering her face.

Meanwhile, Arthur has already gone to his father's side to check up on the King. The other knights are just staring blankly looking at the spot where Morgause used to be with confused expressions. All of them are broken out of their reverie by the sound of Merlin's voice.

"Sire! We have to get Lady Morgana to Gaius's chamber now! She's dying!" Merlin cries out.

All the heads in the room turn towards him. Arthur and Uther have matching expressions of worry and horror on their faces. They all stride up to Merlin and crowd around him. Merlin hands Morgana over to Arthur and stands up.

Arthur transfers Morgana into the arms of one of the knights and barks out orders to start heading to Gaius's chambers. As they all head out of the Council Chambers, both Uther and Arthur begin questioning Merlin.

"Boy! What did that witch do to her? Tell me!" Uther says.

"Merlin, what happened? Why isn't Morgana waking up?" Arthur asks.

"I-I tried…Morgana was…M-Morgause, she…" Merlin stuttered, not knowing what to say.

"SPIT IT OUT BOY!" Uther roared.

"M-Morgana was poisoned!" Merlin cried out.

"I know what sort of poison it is and I know how to make a cure for it but…but the problem is…she was poisoned for at least five minutes already. T-This poison…its lethal. I'm not…I'm not sure the cure will work. She might not…" Merlin stopped, unable to finish the sentence.

Silence ensues. No one speaks as they walk quickly to Gaius's chamber. Upon reaching the chambers, they find Gaius. He had a puzzled expression on his face and he looked as if he just woke up.

"What is going on? Why is everyone here? Oh, Merlin, sire you all are back? I must have fallen asleep," Gaius says.

"Gaius, there is no time now but we will explain everything later, we need your help. According to the boy, Morgana has been poisoned. She will die if we don't do anything. You must help her," Uther says gravely.

Gaius was shocked when he heard those words leaving Uther's mouth. He's eyes widened in disbelieve.

"Of course, I'll start on a cure immediately. I'll do my best to save her. Place her on the bed. Sire, I would like to request that everyone leave these chambers so that I won't be distracted and I can concentrate on healing the Lady Morgana. Merlin you stay, I'll need your help," Gaius says.

King Uther proceeds to order the knights out. Arthur and the knights head out to check up on the state of everyone else in the castle. Soon, only Merlin, Gaius and Morgana are left in the room.

After taking a quick look outside the chambers and ensuring that everyone was gone, Merlin rushes towards the bed where Morgana laid. He leans over the edge of the bed and places his right hand on Morgana's forehead.

Then, he begins chanting a spell. His eyes turn an intense and bright gold as he repeats the spell over and over. A faint orange, shimmering and glowing mist appears around Morgana, which grew brighter and brighter with each passing second.

Soon the light became too bright and Gaius shielded his eyes away from the sight. All of a sudden, there is a huge and powerful burst of magic which radiates out into the air in the room. A feeling of warmness washes over Gaius.

Gaius opens his eyes only to see that Merlin has collapsed to his knees on the floor next to the bed, panting hard. Gaius rushes towards Merlin and attempts to help him up. Merlin just waves him away.

"Don't… worry Gaius… I-I'll… I'll be… alright… in a… minute… spell… was… p-powerful… check… check on… Morgana…" Merlin manages to gasp out in between pants.

Merlin manages to steady his breathing after a while. He gets up with a little help from Gaius and then turns to look at the black haired beauty that lay asleep in the bed.

Unable to stop himself, Merlin reaches his hand out and slowly caresses Morgana's cheek. Merlin feels himself calm down as he looks silently at Morgana and a light smile plays on his lips.

"Morgana will be fine. Everything is going to be okay," Merlin whispers out to no one particular.

Gaius takes in the whole scene quietly. As he observes what Merlin is doing, many questions begin to arise in the old man's mind. Finally, unable to keep silent anymore, Gaius opens his mouth and gives in to his curiosity.

"Merlin, what did you just do?! Are you out of your mind?! That spell must have been extremely hard and exhausting! I could feel its tremendous power earlier on! What were you thinking?!" Gaius exclaimed.

Merlin jumps up slightly, snapping out of his peaceful state and breaks his gaze away from Morgana. He was so focused on Morgana that he had forgotten all about Gaius still being there in the room.

"Gaius, I'm fine. I did it to save Morgana. She'll be alright. I cast a healing spell on her. Morgana is sleeping now. She'll probably wake up in two or three days. Her body needs to recover from the poisoning," Merlin replied tiredly.

Gaius simply stared back at Merlin, his brows raised up in utter surprise and his eyes gazing questionably at Merlin. Merlin just sighed deeply and closed his eyes, his hand coming up to rub at the bridge of his nose.

"Look Gaius I-I'll explain everything later when I feel like talking. I need some time to myself for now." Merlin says going into his room and lying down on his own bed.

Meanwhile, in another part of the castle, Uther is in Morgana's chamber, sadly looking over her jewelry. He sighs deeply as he thought of his ward. She had been poisoned by that wretched sorceress.

Arthur enters Morgana's chambers, approaching Uther to tell him that there's no sign of Morgause anywhere in the castle and that no one has come to any harm. Uther remains silent.

"I'm sorry I failed, Father. I should have protected Morgana." Arthur starts to say.

"No. That was my duty. Morgana has been poisoned and that will forever be on my conscience, not yours." Uther suddenly states.

Arthur does not reply. He simply nods in acknowledgement and then leaves Uther to himself once again.

Daylight was fast approaching an end. As the last rays of the sunshine faded away with the setting sun, the people in Camelot got ready for the night. Over in Gaius's quarters, dinner is full of tension and silence.

Gaius unsuccessfully tries to get Merlin to speak about what had happened to Morgana that day however the young warlock was too caught up in his thoughts.

Merlin barely listens to anything Gaius says, unconsciously stirring his bowl of porridge with his spoon instead of eating it.

"Merlin, are you listening? Would you please tell me what happened today? I want to know what happened!"

"Gaius we'll talk later. I just remembered, I have something important to do," Merlin suddenly says as he rises from his seat, making his way to the door.

As Merlin walks off to his destination, the dragon's words replay in his mind. He has made a promise to Kilgharrah. Now he has to fulfill that promise.

"You must steal a sword from the Knights of Medhir. Their blades were forged by the Old Religion. If you harness its power to your own, you will have the strength to break the chains with which Uther Pendragon keeps me prisoner." Kilgharrah's voice echoes in Merlin's head.

Merlin manages to sneak into the vaults where all the magical artifacts are stored away. He looks around and finally manages to find the sword of one of the Medhir knights. Having gotten hold of the sword, he makes his way to the Dragon's cave.

Upon Merlin's arrival at the Dragon's cave, Kilgharrah swoops down and lands majestically. He stares down at the sword in Merlin's hand with an eager look. A look that seems a little too eager.

Merlin looks back suspiciously at the dragon. He feels that something isn't right. Curious, he opens his mouth and starts to question the dragon.

"Where will you go after I set you free?" Merlin asks.

"I'm the last of my kind, there is but one road I can take," Kilgharrah answers cryptically.

"What does that mean?" Merlin asks suspiciously.

"You will see…" the dragon replies mysteriously.

Merlin stares silently at the dragon, trying to decipher the cryptic words spoken by Kilgharrah. Finally, he starts making his way down to where the chain is.

Everything is silent. Tension and anticipation crackles in the air. Kilgharrah fidgets as he waits impatiently for Merlin.

When Merlin is finally standing in front of the chains, he holds up the sword and takes a deep breath. Suddenly, he lowers the sword. Kilgharrah looks at him with narrowed eyes in an annoyed expression.

"Before I do this, you promise me that you will not harm Camelot," Merlin demands.

"I think there have been enough bargains," Kilgharrah replies with a scowl.

Kilgharrah's patience is wearing thin. Merlin raises the sword again he begins an incantation.

"Ic bebeode þisne sweord þæt hé forcierfe þá bende þæra dracan. Un clýse!" (I command this sword that it cuts the chains of the dragon. Open!)

On saying the last word, Merlin brings the sword down upon the chain that imprisons Kilgharrah. The chain shatters loudly. Kilgharrah lets out a tremendous roar. He raises both of his wings and flies upwards towards freedom.

* * *

**Oh wow! Dun dun dun dun! I'm sure you all know what will happen next hmm? Interesting! Hahaha! Well then, I'll end it off here! Until the the next chapter it is! Do read on see my reply to the lovely reviews! Oh and to make things even more interesting, here is a little of what _may_ come out in the next chapter. *smiles cutely***

_**Sneak peak**_

**_"Do not imagine that your petty magic can harm me!"_**

**_"W-What happened? What am I doing here? The knights? Merlin?"_**

**_"Father! Watch out! No!"_**

**_"You attacked Camelot after I told you not to! I trusted you!"_**

_**Reviews**_

_**I luv Milarion 1201 : Well, she didn't slap him, but she was angry enough I hope? Haha! Merlin's not going to be forgiven so easily. Hmm, should I get him to do something extraordinary to make up to her? Heh, she is a Lady after all! Would love to hear from you again!**_

_**Hi : Thank you for your lovely reviews. I'm glad to hear that you are enjoying my story so far. You should totally get an account on fan-fiction! Trust me, you won't regret it! XD**_

_**Lady Flurryous : I'm so glad to read your wonderful review. Yup,it really gives me a boost of confidence to know that I got the characters exactly how I wanted them to come out. I totally understand what you mean! In the episode, I felt that he didn't even give her chance and immediately assumes the worst of her! :-( Happy to hear that you like this so far!**_

_**yaissa-chan : Haha, here is the next chapter!**_


	4. Chapter 4

**Well then everyone, here is the next chapter of AToF,ADoD. Hope you all enjoy this chapter! Go on and read! Hahaha! Oh and please do leave a review, truly makes my day! ;)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the show Merlin or its characters. (Heh, pretty sure that Morgana would blast me to bits if I even thought of trying to claim Merlin for myself. Especially Merlin. XD)**

* * *

**CHAPTER 4**

The sounds of panicked yelling and screaming filled the night air in Camelot. All around, people were frantically scrambling about and rushing around to make their escape. The smell of smoke hung thickly in the air.

The glowing embers of flames flared brightly in the darkness of night. Debris from the damaged and charred remains of buildings laid strewn out all over the streets of Camelot. It was the third night of the Dragon's assault on the castle.

Arthur ran through the courtyard with his knights and Merlin following closely behind, all of them carrying crossbows. As they hurriedly made their way to their destinations, Arthur yells out instructions to the knights.

Meanwhile, in the infirmary Gaius and Gwen were tending to the wounded. As Gwen helps Gaius out, she begins to voice out her concerns on the attack.

"I don't think people can suffer a third night of this," Gwen states out in a worried tone.

"We must have trust in Arthur-" Gaius begins to say.

"I do… but even he couldn't possibly have a chance…" Gwen replied quietly.

Back outside, Arthur, Merlin and the knights take their positions on the battlements and prepare themselves as Kilgharrah swoops in for another attack.

Merlin's face is filled with immense guilt as the knights light their arrows and fire at Kilgharrah, only to be forced to take cover when the dragon breathes fire all over the battlements. He had set the dragon free and now people were suffering from Kilgharrah's attack.

As Gwen rushes around, tending to the injured, she realizes that there was no water left in the infirmary. She tells this to Gaius but he simply says that it was too dangerous to go out in the open.

Being the helpful and caring soul she was, Gwen could simply not bear the thought of just waiting around for someone else to fetch the water and letting the injured suffer in agony and misery.

She grabs a bucket and rushes out into the courtyard, maneuvering through the rubble while everyone else screams and flees.

Gwen pants as she runs and quickly makes her way to the well to get water. Upon reaching the well, she begins to draw the water out.

Kilgharrah circles overhead while Arthur cries out for the square to be emptied. As Arthur ushers the villagers out of the square to safety, he happens to glance in the direction of where the well is and spots Gwen busily trying to get water.

Arthur looks up into the sky and notices that Kilgharrah was flying towards Gwen's direction and preparing to swoop down. Arthur's gaze shoots back down to Gwen and he yells out her name in terror as he fully realizes what is about to happen.

Meanwhile, Gwen had been so busy drawing water from the well that she did not notice the dragon until Arthur yelled out her name. When she turns and sees the dragon in the air, her eyes widened in fear. Above them, Kilgharrah spreads out his magnificent wings and then, dives down with claws outstretched.

Arthur sprints across the square toward her. It is a really close call. Arthur manages to reach Gwen just in the nick of time as the great beast swoops down.

He takes the brunt of the dragon's strike as the two of them are thrown to the ground. The two of them get to their feet and quickly take cover from the dragon.

Merlin emerges through all the chaos. He rushes forward, towards Kilgharrah. Glancing down, he spots a spear lying on the ground.

His eyes flare an intense gold as he shouts out a spell to enchant the spear and attempts to hit Kilgharrah with the magical spear.

"Fluge! Gár!" (Fly away, spear!)

The spear flies up into the air and hits Kilgharrah, only to ricochet off Kilgharrah's scales. The dragon looked down at Merlin with anger filled eyes.

"Do not imagine that your petty magic can harm me!" Kilgharrah roared mockingly at Merlin.

Stretching his wings, the great dragon soars upwards and flies away into the night.

"Why are you doing this? You're killing innocent people!" Merlin shouted out as Kilgharrah flew off.

_In the infirmary _

Gwen treats Arthur's injury. Her hands gently clean the wounds on Arthur's body. As she cleans the wounds, she begins speaking softly.

"You shouldn't have risked your life," Gwen says quietly.

"I wasn't to let anything happen to you," Arthur replies gently with a soft smile.

Gwen breaks into a sweet smile and she looks at Arthur with adoring eyes. She continues on quietly with her task. Arthur slowly reaches out to takes Gwen's hand in his, bringing it up and pressing her hand against his heart.

Neither speaks a word as they look at each other, as if they are in their own world. The silence between them is comfortable. It brings more understanding then any words possibly could.

Not far away, Gaius witnessed their little quiet moment with a knowing smile. Merlin arrives in the infirmary. He approaches Gaius to tell him what happened.

"There's nothing I can do…my magic is no good, it doesn't work." Merlin whispers to Gaius.

"Dragons aren't monsters; they're creatures of wonder and magic. You must realize that they're immune to your powers." Gaius explains.

The next morning, Arthur presents a report to his father, the knights and several advisers in the War Room. He accounts the damage and the number of people dead from the attack. None of them have any idea how the dragon had escaped.

When Gaius gets a chance to speak up, he suggests finding a dragonlord. Uther thinks that this is impossible; however Gaius shares knowledge that there may be a dragonlord left in existence. A man named Balinor who was last seen in Cenred's kingdom.

Arthur is eager to seek him out, but Uther is reluctant towards the idea of entering Cenred's territory. Arthur insists that he will go alone to avoid being detected, despite his father's orders.

"No, Arthur. It's too dangerous." Uther begins to speak.

"More dangerous than staying here? I'll not stand by and watch my men die when I have the chance to save them." Arthur cuts in quickly.

"I have given you my orders."

"Do not make this a test of wills, Father."

"I'm not talking to you as a father; I'm talking to you as a king!" Uther yells out, unable to conceal his anger any longer.

"I will ride immediately." Arthur replies stubbornly.

"My concern is for you."

"Mine is for Camelot. I'll send word when I've found him." Arthur promises the king.

As he walks out of the War Room, Arthur tells Merlin to prepare the horses.

In the Physician's Chambers, Merlin is packing and he begins asking Gaius about the dragonlords. Gaius seems oddly distracted, but tells him that that they were men who were able to communicate and control dragons.

Gaius explains to Merlin that Uther passed out the order for the dragonlords to be wiped out, believing that they were dangerous, all except one, who had managed to escape with some help from Gaius. Gaius walks up towards Merlin, a troubled expression on his face.

"Merlin…you've never heard the name Balinor?" Gaius asks.

"No" Merlin replies and continues on with his packing.

"Your mother never mentioned him?" Gaius prods even further.

Merlin looks up at this, his interest piqued at the mention of his mother.

"My mother?" Merlin asks curiously

"She took him in." Gaius replies.

"She stood up against Uther?" Merlin asks incredulously.

"Yes."

"Well she was brave…" Merlin says in an amazed tone.

"Yes…when Uther discovered where Balinor was, he sent knights to Ealdor to hunt him down. He was forced to flee."

"Why didn't my mother tell me any of this?" Merlin asks.

"Merlin…I'd promised her I would never speak of these things." Gaius says solemnly.

Merlin begins to feel even more curious. He wanted to know more. Gaius did not seem to make any sense.

"Of what?"

"I've always treated you as my son…but that is not what you are…"

Gaius pauses as if unsure whether to continue. Merlin stares back at him with a confused expression. He gives Gaius a look, trying to prompt Gaius to continue.

"The man you are going to look for…is…your father." Gaius says slowly.

The bombshell has been dropped. Merlin stares back at Gaius in total silence, too shocked to say anything about the huge revelation. Disbelief washes over him as comprehends what Gaius had just told him.

"My father?" Merlin croaks out.

"Yes."

"He was a dragonlord?"

Gaius does not reply and simply lowers his gaze. Merlin scrunches up his face as he struggles to hold in his overflowing emotions. He shook his head at the unfairness of it all.

"Why did no one ever tell me?!" Merlin yells out angrily.

"I wanted to…your mother felt that it would be too dangerous." Gaius tries to explain.

"I had a right to know," Merlin says.

"She wanted to protect you"

"No," Merlin continues.

"I had a right to know," he repeats, this time stressing on the words.

_At the courtyard_

Merlin stands beside his horse, readying the saddles. Gaius approaches him and asks if he has everything prepared. Merlin just nods and continues saddle his horse. He does not look at or speak to Gaius.

Gaius simply looks at him. Finally, Merlin looks up and apologizes to Gaius about what happened earlier. Gaius nods his head in an understanding sort of way.

Arthur arrives and calls out, asking Merlin if he is ready. As he mounts his horse, Arthur winces in pain, clearly having trouble with his wound. Merlin asks if he is alright and he replies that it is just a scratch. Arthur flicks the reigns of his horse and it begins trotting off.

Merlin gets on his horse. Gaius walks up to him and reminds him that Arthur must never find out that Merlin is a dragonlord's son whatever the cause.

Arthur and Merlin ride on through the woods and finally come to a stop at the top of a hill overlooking a village. They had reached the borders of Cenred's kingdom. They arrive in the village by night in the pouring rain, causing a sudden, deathly silence when they enter a noisy tavern.

They awkwardly take their seats and Arthur asks the innkeeper where they can find a man called Balinor. The innkeeper ignores the money that Arthur offers, stating that he's never heard of Balinor.

A while later, as Merlin and Arthur get ready for bed in one of the chambers at the inn, Arthur decides to question Merlin on his weird behavior, having noticed that Merlin had been acting rather odd.

"What is wrong with you today?"

"What?" Merlin asks.

"It pains me to admit it, but I do enjoy your surly retorts. In fact, it's probably your only redeemable feature."

Merlin snorts and rolls his eyes. He turns over to his side, his back facing Arthur.

"There are loads of servants who can serve. So few are capable of making a complete prat of themselves. What is it?" Arthur continues.

"Nothing." Merlin simply replies

"It's something. Tell me. Alright, I know I'm a prince, so we can't be friends. But if I wasn't a prince..."Arthur trails off.

"What?"

"Well, then...I think we'd probably get on."

"So?" Merlin says.

"So at least can you tell me?" Arthur huffs out in irritation.

"Well, that's true. But you see, if you weren't a prince, I'd tell you to mind your own damn business." Merlin retorts cheekily.

"Merlin!" Arthur exclaims, frowning in annoyance.

"Are you missing Gaius?" Arthur continues in a softer tone.

"Something like that." Merlin cryptically replies.

"Well, what is it, then?" Arthur cries out, clearly annoyed.

Arthur sits up and takes his pillow, throwing it at Merlin in an attempt to get an answer out of Merlin.

"I'll tell you…" Merlin gives in.

"I'm worried about everyone back in Camelot. I hope they're alright." Merlin continues.

"So do I." Arthur says.

Back in Camelot, Sir Leon leads the knights in their fight against the Dragon. They shoot their arrows at the dragon, only for it to retaliate with a huge blast of fire. The knights are forced to crouch down and cover each other with their overlapping shields. Uther watches helplessly from his chambers.

In the inn, someone enters Merlin and Arthur's room and reaches for Arthur's bag. Arthur wakes up, grabs the man's hand and throws him onto Merlin's bed at knife-point. Merlin wakes up, frightened and in shock.

Arthur threatens the man until he divulges Balinor's location which is an isolated cave in a forest. The man tells them not to get their hopes up. He claimed that Balinor would not welcome them because he hates everyone and everything.

As dawn approaches, Merlin and Arthur set off into the forest, walking their horses through the woods. Merlin notices that Arthur is struggling and wants to have a look at his wound.

While Merlin checks the wound, he suddenly hears the rustle of leaves. The two of them hide quickly at the sound. Merlin peeks out and spots Cenred's men passing by. Once gone, Merlin turns to Arthur, only to find that he's passed out.

Merlin continues on with Arthur slung over the back of his horse until he reaches Balinor's cave. Upon reaching, Merlin enters the cave and takes a look around. Hesitantly, Merlin calls out, asking if there is anyone around and is grabbed from behind by a bearded and grim-looking man.

The man demands to know why Merlin is there and Merlin asks for help for his wounded friend. The man agrees to tend to him, though Merlin is momentarily distracted by the first sight of his father.

Using herbs and a spell, the man treats Arthur's wound.

"Ahlúttre þá séocnes. Þurh- hæle bræd."( Cleanse the sickness through healing flesh.)

The man tells Merlin that Arthur will be fine by the morning. He then offers Merlin a meal. Merlin attempts to start a conversation with the man.

"Looks good. How long have you lived here?" Merlin asks.

"A few winters."

"Must be hard."

"Why are you here?" the man asks.

"Just travelling. We're looking for someone. I was toll… well...they said that he lived somewhere hereabouts. A man named Balinor. You never heard of him? He was a dragonlord." Merlin answers.

"He's passed on."

"You knew him?" Merlin says eagerly.

"Who are you?!" the man asks suspiciously.

"I'm...Merlin." Merlin replies with a slight hesitation.

"And him?" the man asks, pointing towards Arthur.

"He's my master."

"His name!" the man says gruffly.

"His name is Lancelot. He's a knight. You know… a nice one." Merlin quickly lies.

"His name is Arthur Pendragon. He is Uther's son." the man looks disapprovingly at Merlin, his gaze darkening.

The game is up. There is nothing to hide anymore. The man knows who Arthur is.

"Yes." Merlin finally admits.

"This is Cenred's kingdom. He's asking for trouble. What do you want from me?" the man asks Merlin.

"Are you Balinor? The Great Dragon is attacking Camelot." Merlin asks, although he already knows the answer to his question.

"His name is Kilgharrah." The man simply says.

"Well, we can't stop him. Only you, a dragonlord, can."

"He doesn't act blindly. He kills for a reason. Vengeance. This is of Uther's making." Balinor explains.

"But he's killing innocent people. Women and children."

"Uther pursued me! He hunted me like an animal!" Balinor bellows out suddenly in rage.

"I know."

"What do you know about anybody's life, boy?! Uther asked me to use my power to bring the last dragon to Camelot. He said he wanted to make peace with it, but he did not! He lied to me! He betrayed me! You want me to protect this man?" Balinor roars with fury.

"I want you to protect Camelot." Merlin answers.

"He killed every one of my kind! I alone escaped!"

"Where did you go?"

"There's a place called Ealdor."

"Yes." Merlin prompts.

Balinor begins talking about how he had a life in Ealdor where he had a good woman with him. He explained how Uther continued to pursue him and destroy his life forcing him to flee Ealdor and abandoned the woman that he loved. He tells Merlin to let Camelot fall.

'You want everyone in Camelot to die?" Merlin asks in disbelieve.

"Why should I care?"

"What if one of them was your son?" Merlin questions.

"I don't have a son." Balinor replies harshly.

"And if I told you..." Merlin begins.

They are interrupted by Arthur muttering in his sleep.

The following morning Merlin watches his father by the river. Arthur emerges from the cave, sounding much better. Merlin glumly tells him that though they had found Balinor, he was unwilling to help them.

"What kind of man is he?" Arthur asks.

"I don't know. I thought he'd be something more." Merlin replies.

Back in Camelot, the people of Camelot are busy carrying buckets of water through the lower town to put out the fires. Gwen gazes out at the city from the battlement, tears on her cheeks. Gaius comes to join her, offering her comfort.

"You're missing Morgana?" Gaius asks her.

Gwen acknowledges quietly and continues looking out towards the city.

"She's stronger than people think. I believe that she'll make it and wake up soon. She'll be alright." Gaius says.

Gwen nods and then asks about Arthur. Gaius assures her that Arthur will return, and that she should not underestimate the power of love.

Back in the forest, Arthur had just returned from a discussion with Balinor.

"What did he say?" Merlin asks.

"He'll change his mind."

"He said that?" Merlin says skeptically, not quite believing Arthur.

"Just...give him a moment."

Balinor walks up to the both of them. Merlin glances up at him hopefully.

"Farewell, then." Balinor says to them both and begin to make his way off.

"That's your decision?" Arthur says incredulously.

Balinor turns around and looks at Arthur. He tells Arthur that he refuses to help Uther. Arthur then argues that the people of Camelot will be damned if Balinor does not help.

"So be it." Balinor says.

Arthur is shocked at this and asks Balinor had he no conscience. Balinor replies that he should ask that question to the king instead. Merlin tries to step in saying that Balinor is no better by deciding not to help them. Arthur tells Merlin not to waste his time, walking off as he does so.

"Gaius spoke of the nobility of dragonlords! Clearly he was wrong!" Merlin makes one final attempt.

Mentioning Gaius seems to do the trick. Balinor freezes.

"Gaius?" Balinor asks.

"Yes."

"A good man." Balinor states.

"Yeah. I was hoping you'd be like him." Merlin replies.

"Merlin!" Arthur calls out.

"I wanted to..." Merlin begins but is cut off by Arthur.

"Merlin!" Arthur calls out again.

"Well, there's no point." Merlin says, giving up and sighing in defeat.

Looking heartbroken, Merlin turns to leave with Arthur. Once they had made camp, Arthur again comments on Merlin's quietness.

They are in the midst of some banter when Arthur hears the sound of a twig snap. Someone was approaching. It turns out to be Balinor. He'd had a change of heart and was willing to help them.

While Merlin and Balinor collect firewood, Merlin asks what words Balinor had been mumbling when he was healing Arthur. Balinor tells him that it is an ancient prayer.

"I thought it might have been more than that." Merlin says.

"The Old Religion can teach us many things." Balinor replies.

The Old Religion. Is that something you were taught?"

"It's not something you can learn. Either it's a part of you, or it isn't. My father knew that, and his father before him."

"Were they also dragonlords?" Merlin questions Balinor.

"We'll need some kindling." Balinor says, trying to change the subject.

"You mentioned...You spoke of Ealdor. You took refuge with a woman." Merlin begins.

"That was a long time ago." Balinor says, trying to end the conversation.

"I grew up there." Merlin continues.

"Ealdor?" Balinor asks.

"Yes. I know the woman." Merlin replies.

"Hunith? She's still alive?"

"Yes. She's my mother." Merlin answers.

Balinor stares back at him with a look that can only be described as pained and broken-hearted.

"Then she married. That's good." Balinor says quietly.

Balinor turns around to gather more firewood. Merlin shakes his head.

"She never married." Merlin replies.

At this Balinor turns back around.

"I'm your son." Merlin continues.

They gaze at each other, both unable to say a word. Finally, Balinor swallows and speaks.

"I don't know what it is to have a son."

"Or I a father." Merlin says back.

Their reunion is cut short by the sound of Arthur walking close by, but they share a smile as they collect firewood.

At night, Arthur sleeps while Balinor whittles wood by the fire. On questioning him further, Merlin learns that Balinor did not return to Hunith because he believed she would be safer without him.

Merlin voices his wish that they had stayed together as a family, and promises his father that after Camelot is saved, they'll return to Ealdor together. Balinor says that he can see Hunith in Merlin; specifically her kindness.

"How did you become a dragonlord?" Merlin asks his father.

"You don't choose to become a dragonlord. It's not something you're taught. It's a sacred gift. For thousands of years it's been handed down from father to son. And that is what you must now become, Merlin." Balinor explains.

"I would like that."

"And like all dragonlords, you won't know for sure that you have that power until you face your first dragon. You should get some sleep. We've a big day ahead of us. Goodnight, Son." Balinor continues.

"Sleep well, Father." Merlin replies.

Merlin wakes up to see a small dragon that his father has whittled placed in front of him. He smiles at the sight of it. He is about to get up when Arthur grabs him from behind and covers his mouth. Cenred's men are near and attack unexpectedly.

Merlin throws his father a sword and together they begin to fight off their attackers. Merlin loses his weapon and Balinor rushes to his aid, only to be run through. Merlin screams and the soldier is thrown through the air to hit a tree. Balinor collapses in Merlin's arms.

"Ah.. I see you have your father's talent. Merlin..." Balinor says.

"Please, no. Please. I can save you." Merlin says in a panicked tone.

"Listen to me…when you face the dragon… remember… be strong… a dragon's heart is on its right side… not its left." Balinor says in between gasps.

"I can't do it alone." Merlin cries out.

"Listen to me! Oh, my son. I've seen enough in you to know that you will make me proud."

Balinor reaches up to touch Merlin's face. Merlin stifles his sobs as he looks down at his father who lies dying in his arms. Balinor keeps his gaze on Merlin until his eyes glazes over, turn dull and lifeless. The dragonlord is dead.

"No! Father!" Merlin croaks out hoarsely as he watches the life leave Balinor.

Merlin lowers Balinor to the ground. He is forced to choke back his sobs as Arthur approaches; throwing his sword down in anger as he sees that Camelot's last hope is dead.

Merlin and Arthur ride back to Camelot. The knights point out eagerly towards them from the battlements, but on entering the war room together, Arthur is forced to admit that they failed in their mission.

When Arthur announces that the last dragonlord is dead, Gaius glances at Merlin, who is trying his best not to start crying.

"All is not lost, Father. We have to fight the monster ourselves. So let us ride out and fight on our own terms: on open ground, on horseback, where we can manoeuvre better." Arthur says.

"There is no point."

"So what? We stand here, watch Camelot fall." Arthur questions.

"You have my blessing." the king finally says.

"I need a dozen knights! Those who do not wish to fight can do so without stain on their character. For those brave enough to volunteer should know, the chances of returning are slim." Arthur says loudly.

Starting with Sir Leon, the Knights of Camelot step forward one by one, forming a circle around Arthur. They will fight loyally with him until the end.

In his bedroom, Merlin sits on his bed and cries silently, holding the small wooden dragon that Balinor made in his hands. Gaius enters and tells him that once Balinor died, all his powers have passed into Merlin. Only now does he have power over the Great Dragon.

In Arthur's Chambers, Merlin helps Arthur put on his armor, giving him advice on how to handle the coming battle.

"Merlin, if I die, please..." Arthur begins.

"What?"

"The dragonlord today...I saw you. One thing I tell all my young knights: no man is worth your tears."

Upon hearing this, Merlin has to bite down on his tongue to keep from lashing out at Arthur and revealing anything. He composes himself, swallows down his emotions and plasters a fake smile on his face.

"Yeah. You're certainly not." he jokes weakly.

Arthur picks up his sword and prepares to leave, only for Merlin to pick up his own sword and follow him out. Arthur is incredulous that Merlin would want to come with him to fight the dragon, but Merlin is dead serious.

"Are you really going to face this dragon with me?" Arthur asks.

"I'm not going to sit here and watch. I know it's hard for you to understand how I feel, but...well, I care a hell of a lot about that armor and I'm not going to let you mess it up." Merlin remarks cheekily.

They share a smile, Arthur gives Merlin a friendly punch on the arm, and they leave the room together. Gaius watches from the battlement as Arthur, Merlin and the knights ride out of Camelot to slay the dragon.

The moon appears, shining brightly in the night sky from behind a cloud. It lights up a meadow on the outskirts of Camelot. All the knights prepare to face the dragon. They stand in formation at the meadow.

They are armed with lances and wear helmets as they wait for the dragon which slowly swoops down out of the sky. The moment the dragon lands in the clearing, Arthur gives the signal and they all gallop away from each other to form a circle surrounding the dragon.

Kilgharrah manages to hit Merlin and several other knights off their horses with his tail. He breaths fire over several knights as Merlin screams for him to stop.

Arthur grabs a lance and prepares to stab the dragon, managing a hit before he is knocked unconscious to the ground. Merlin gets to his feet, hearing his father's voice in his head encouraging him.

"You're the last dragonlord now. You alone carry the ancient gift. Deep within yourself, you must find the voice that you and Kilgharrah share, for your soul and his are brothers. When you speak to him as kin, he must obey your will." Balinor's voice says.

"Dracan. Nán dyd ǽlc áciere miss. Eftsíðas eom ála cræt. Géate stǽr ábære gárrǽs. Géate cyre. Mé tácen átende diegollice. Car grise áþes." (Dragon, of every deed, none turns aside loss. Your journeys, wagon's fires. Say yea to the battle, disclose the history. Say yea to (your) choice. Secretly, you set the evidence on fire, taking me unaware. Sorrowful, (I) dread (my) sworn-oath.)

Merlin roars and begins to speak to Kilgharrah in a foreign tongue. Kilgharrah bows his head and asks for mercy, reminding Merlin that he is the last of his kind.

Merlin thrusts the spear up into the air and orders Kilgharrah to leave, telling him that if he ever attacks Camelot again, he will die.

"Young warlock, what you have shown is what you will be. I will not forget your clemency. I'm sure our paths will cross again." Kilgharrah says.

Kilgharrah flies off and not long after that Arthur awakens. Merlin congratulates him, saying that Arthur managed to deal a mortal blow to the dragon and that the beast had flown away to die.

Overjoyed, Arthur begins to laugh and the two of them make their way back to Camelot on foot. Uther sees them from his window and sighs in relief.

Below, Guinevere and Gaius come to meet them. Gwen throws her arms around Arthur as Merlin and Gaius hug one another.

"I felt him there with me, Gaius." Merlin whispers out as he hugs Gaius.

"He'll always be with you." Gaius replies.

"I hope so."

"Merlin, I know I can never compare with your father, but for what it's worth, you've still got me." Gaius says while smiling.

"Well, I suppose I'll just have to make do." Merlin replies grinning back.

In another part of the castle, a lady's chambers to be more precise, a dark haired beauty lays asleep on the bed. A maid servant walks into the room carrying a small basin of water with a cloth inside.

She sets the basin on the table in the room and then proceeds to check on the condition of the sleeping woman. The maid servant carefully tucks the sleeping woman under the sheets. The maid servant then walks towards the table with the basin of water.

As she does so, she hears a moan coming from behind her. She turns around sharply only to see that the sleeping woman is no longer resting peacefully but instead, tossing and turning on the bed as if having a nightmare.

The sleeping woman moans again, louder this time. All of a sudden, the sleeping woman takes in sharp breath and sits upright, her eyes flying wide open and gazing about wildly.

"W-What happened? Where am I? What am I doing here? The knights, are they gone? Merlin, where is Merlin?" the woman cries out, her emerald green orbs looking around the room.

The maid servant stares at the woman in complete shock, her hand flying up to mouth as she lets out a startled gasp.

"Oh my goodness! Lady Morgana! You're finally awake!"

* * *

**Okay then time to end off! So what do all think of this chapter? I'm pretty sure all of you thought I had forgotten about Morgana didn't you? Hehe, nope, nuh-uh, no way!I hoped that it spiked your interest. Please leave a review after reading this. Comments can help me to improve the story. Do favorite and follow this story if you have not. On to the reviews then. Skip the reviews and scroll to the end if you want to.**

**Reviews**

**Argetaie : Too hard? Hmm, I guess so, but Merlin does kind of deserve it in the show don't you think? I mean, he just followed everything Kilgharrah said and didn't try harder to help Morgana. He could have prevented her from turning evil. But he is too lovable for me to stay mad at him. So I shall not be mad. Hahaha! :)**

**I luv Milarion 1201 : Now that you actually mentioned it, I wonder ****what I should get Merlin to do to earn Morgana's trust back and win her heart. All shall be revealed soon...hopefully! Heeheehee! Hmm, any ideas? Haha! Hope to hear from you again :P**

**BlueGreen216 : Yup that's gonna be the most interesting part huh?**

**Lady Flurryous : Wow, Kilgharrah killing Uther would be a little too intense. Hahaha! *Nervously laughs* Actually that is kinda cool. Uther being roasted by a dragon. Hmm...BBQ'ed Uther. Hahahahaha! That sounds really funny somehow. Okay, now I'm imagining Uther being cooked on a grill. Oh dear, I won't be able to stop laughing now! Hahahaha! ;)**

**finnickfelicis : Here you go! Hope this chapter was satisfying to read.**

**Eadane : Update! Hahaha!**

**Well that's all for now I guess. Now, we come to a rather sad part. I'm so sorry my dear readers but the next chapter will make a very, very late appearance. This is due to the fact that exams are coming soon in school and this means it's time for me to hit the books and study study study! I do hope you all are understanding towards this. You people have been awesome readers so far! Thank you for being so nice and friendly. I do hope to continue soon. I'll try and post the next chapter A.S.A.P after my exams. Leave a review please!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Helloooo! And I am back! Yes, it's been so long and I am so so sorry everyone. Wow, time really flies and I've been so busy with work. I decided to take a break and write this chapter. Now READ people! READ! Hahaha! Oh and there so many followers to this story so leaving some reviews won't hurt will it?**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the show Merlin or its characters.**

* * *

_Previously_

_"I felt him there with me, Gaius." Merlin whispers out as he hugs Gaius._

_"He'll always be with you." Gaius replies._

_The sleeping woman moans again, louder this time. All of a sudden, the sleeping woman takes in sharp breath and sits upright, her eyes flying wide open and gazing about wildly._

_"Oh my goodness! Lady Morgana! You're finally awake!" _

**_CHAPTER_ 5**

Morgana let out a sigh of irritation as she watched Gwen walking around, trying to tidy up the already cleaned room from where she was sitting on her bed. The whole castle had been in an uproar ever since Morgana had woken up the previous night.

Everyone had fussed over her well-being and Uther had ordered her to stay in her room to rest herself. She could not believe that she had to remain stuck in her room for the whole day when she felt perfectly alright.

She had a few things that she really wanted to do instead of being cooped up, like for example, confronting a certain someone on his magic which he had kept a secret from her.

Morgana looked towards where Gwen was standing. She could not help letting out a chuckle as she watched her maid servant fussing over the flowers in a vase on her dressing table.

"Gwen," Morgana began.

"You can stop that you know. You've been arranging and rearranging those flowers over and over." Morgana said with a smile.

Gwen blushed and halted what she was doing. She then proceeded towards Morgana with a sheepish smile on her face.

"I'm sorry milady. It's just that you've been asleep for so long and now that you're awake, I'm worried about your health. You should rest yourself."

Morgana smiled hearing this. Gwen was such a nice person. She always cared for others around her.

"Thank you for the concern Gwen. I'm quite sure that I'll be fine-" Morgana paused, a sudden idea coming to mind.

"-although I do feel a bit weak… Gwen, could you please ask Gaius to make a potion that would help me feel better? Oh, and could you ask for Merlin to send it here? I have a few questions to ask him regarding the day of the attack from the sorceress." Morgana continued.

"Of course milady, I'll definitely help to ask for a draught to help you feel better. Forgive me, but if I may ask, what questions do you want to ask Merlin milady? Do you think that is a wise idea?"

"I-I mean, do you really want to relieve such a terrible memory of the attack after having just recovered milady?" Gwen asked Morgana, her eyes wide with concern and worry.

"Oh Gwen, don't worry! I'll be fine. He was the one to confront her was he not? I just wanted to know what had happened on that day." Morgana quickly replied.

"I want to ask him if he knew what exactly had the sorceress done to me that caused me to go into such a deep sleep. He was after all, the only one awake in the room with the sorceress or so I've heard. He must have witnessed everything." Morgana continued with a reassuring smile.

Gwen nods her head, as if she finally understands and smiles back.

"Oh, I see… alright then milady, shall I leave now to ask Gaius for the draught?"

"Yes, please do. Thank you very much Gwen." Morgana replies sweetly.

Gwen proceeds to the doorway of Morgana room. She heads out of the room and makes her way to the physician's chambers.

_Meanwhile at the physician's chambers_

Merlin was hard at work, busily scrubbing the floors of the room. His hair was all ruffled up and messy with specks of dirt all over. His face was covered with black splotches of soot in certain areas.

He winced as he moved, feeling the ache in his sore muscles.

"What a prat." He muttered under his breath as the events of what had happened earlier that morning replayed in his mind.

Arthur had been in a rather grumpy mood the whole morning and had been especially vicious during his sword practice with Merlin earlier on.

The poor manservant had bruises all over himself from the morning training. To top it off, Arthur had given him extra chores to do after Merlin had given a rather cheeky comment on the prince's foul mood.

A sudden knock on the door of the room brought him out of his thoughts. He looked up to see the door opening and Gwen entering the room.

She gave a small smile upon seeing him kneeling on the floor, one hand holding on to a scrub and the other reaching up to wipe the sweat off his forehead.

"Why, hello there Merlin. Is Gaius around? I have to ask him to make a draught."

Merlin grins and gets up from where he was kneeling. He stands up and walks over to Gwen.

"Hello Gwen, I'm afraid Gaius is currently out at the moment. He's gone to help treat a sick man. He'll be back soon I think. Do you need him now for the draught? Who is it for?" Merlin asked.

"Oh, it's alright Merlin. Well, since Gaius isn't here, could you please help me ask him to make the draught? It's for Lady Morgana. She's feeling rather weak and she wanted something to help her feel better. I hope you don't mind." Gwen says.

"Sure, it's no problem at all. I'll let Gaius know as soon as he returns." Merlin replies.

"Thank you Merlin. Well, I best be on my way now. I have to tend to the Morgana. I'll see you around Merlin." Gwen says politely with a smile.

Merlin gives a nod and smiles back at her. He begins to resume his work of scrubbing the floor. Gwen proceeds to make her exit.

But, just as she opens the door, she remembers one more important thing. She turns around to face Merlin.

"Oh, I almost forgot! Morgana requested for you to be the one who sends the draught. She wanted to ask you some questions about the day of the sorceress's attack." Gwen says looking towards Merlin.

The moment those words are uttered from Gwen's lips, Merlin stiffens up and his eyes widen in slight fear. He quickly looks up at Gwen and swallows nervously.

"S-She asked f-for me?" Merlin stutters out.

"Yes. Well, I have to go now. Goodbye Merlin! Don't forget to bring Morgana her draught!" Gwen says cheerfully.

Merlin gives her a weak smile and nods his head. However, the moment the door the door clicks shut behind Gwen, Merlin's smile disappears altogether and he lets out a loud groan.

"Oh no… nonononono! This is bad… so very bad! Her asking for me can only mean one thing… oh no…" Merlin mutters to himself in panic.

Merlin took a few gulps of air as he tried to calm himself down. His thoughts were racing as he tried to come up with a plan to deal with the situation. Morgana was asking for him to meet her.

He knew that it would be pointless trying to avoid her. She wanted answers. Facing Morgana would be inevitable. Merlin sighed in defeat. It seemed that he would be in for a really long day.

_A few hours later_

Merlin took in a deep breath and stood up straight, readying himself as he stood facing Morgana's door. He gripped the bottle containing the draught Gaius had made tightly in his left hand.

With a slow pace, he raised his other hand, knocked softly on the door in front of him and then took a step back waiting for Morgana to answer.

"Who is it?" Morgana called from inside her room.

Merlin hesitated before opening his mouth to reply.

"It's me…Merlin…"

There was a short pause of silence before the door slowly opened, revealing Morgana standing behind it. She stood quietly, staring up at him without saying a word.

Merlin fidgeted and shuffled his feet awkwardly, feeling extremely uncomfortable under Morgana's scrutinizing gaze. He felt like a kid who had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

Finally, Morgana broke the moment of silence between them.

"Do come in Merlin…I was expecting you."

She opened her door slightly wider to allow him to enter the room. He walked in quickly and she shut the door behind him.

They both turned to face one another and lapsed into silence once again, each not knowing how to start the conversation. Merlin decided to speak up first this time and cleared his throat.

"Err…I well… I brought you…your draught."

"Oh…truthfully, I don't need the draught. It was just an excuse to get you here." Morgana said with a weak chuckle.

"B-But thank you Merlin," she continued quickly.

Morgana walked over to her bed and sat down. She then took a deep breath to keep her emotions in check and prepared herself to start asking questions. Morgana looked up to meet Merlin's gaze.

"Well then-" she began.

"Would you like to start explaining yourself Merlin?" Morgana asked in a controlled tone.

Merlin closed his eyes and let out a tired sigh. He nodded his head.

"What do you want to know?"

"How long have you had your magic?" she asked.

"I've had it my whole life. I was born with it." he answered softly.

Morgana's breathe hitches and she remains silent for a moment, trying to compose herself.

"Show me." she finally manages to say awhile.

Merlin looks at her curiously but does not dare to question her. He slowly raised his hand, his gaze not once leaving hers.

"Forbearnan" he whispers.

Merlin's eyes flash a golden colour and a small flame appears in his hand. Morgana stares at the flame in a quiet awe. She is filled with so many sudden and conflicting feelings as she watches Merlin doing his magic.

Morgana is torn between her anger at him for keeping his magic a secret and her relief that she is no longer alone. She is no longer able to conceal her emotions that are raging inside her.

Soon tears begin to well up in the back of her eyes without her even realising. As soon as the first tear rolls down her cheek, more follow after it.

Unable to hold back anymore she lets out a sob and breaks down crying. Merlin is so stunned by her reaction that he loses his focus on the flame in his hand which then sputters and dies out.

He had not been expecting her to behave like this. Merlin had braced himself to face an oncoming barrage of screaming and yelling.

He was certain that she had been really angry at him. Never would he have imagined that Morgana would start crying instead of scolding him.

"I-I just don't understand. Merlin…y-you were my f-friend, my b-best friend. I t-trusted you a-and I w-was so alone! Y-You had m-magic all along… I was s-scared…so scared! Y-You had m-magic! You could…c-could have h-helped…but you d-didn't." Morgana sobbed out over and over again.

Merlin's heart shattered as he heard the words of the beauty who was sobbing in front of him. He couldn't bear seeing Morgana crying. He just couldn't bear it.

Merlin walked towards her bed and reached out to comfort her, but Morgana only flinched and moved away from him.

A pang of hurt went through him and his heart broke even more. He felt tears appearing in his own eyes and fought to hold them back.

"Morgana, please…I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I know what I did was terrible! I-I should have told you. But I didn't. I was scared to. I'm sorry I left you all alone. I'm sorry! Please Morgana!"

His words only made her cry even more. That was it. He couldn't just stand there watching her cry. Merlin sat down on the bed next to her and pulled her into a tight embrace.

His own tears were streaming down the side of his face. She began pushing away from him, beating at his chest and trying to escape his hold.

However, he didn't let go of her but instead, hugged her even more tightly. Morgana finally gave up struggling and leaned into him, sobbing into his chest.

As he held Morgana to him, he brushed his fingers through her hair, stroking her black curls gently and whispered sweet nothings to her, trying to sooth her.

"Shh, don't cry my sweet little thing. Everything is going to be okay. You aren't alone in this anymore Morgana. I promise. Don't cry please? I'm right here. Shh." Merlin said.

Merlin kept doing the same thing until Morgana had calmed down. After a while, Morgana's cries subsided.

She wiped away her tears and looked up him, sniffling. Merlin loosened his hold on Morgana and allowed her to sit up beside him.

"I-I've decided t-that I can't fully t-trust you yet especially a-after you kept your m-magic a s-secret." Morgana began.

Merlin's heart sank upon hearing her say so.

"B-But we…we are g-going to fix this…t-together. I w-want to trust y-you fully again and I want y-you to trust me fully too. It'll take some t-time but we…we'll make it work. We'll have to re-rebuild on our t-trust in each other. Merlin, will…will you h-help me and teach me to c-control my magic? P-Please?"

He blinked his eyes as he stared at her in disbelief. Did she truly just say that she wanted to mend their friendship? Was she really asking him to teach her about magic?

Merlin began to nod his head slowly.

"Alright. I'll…I'll teach you."

Morgana let out a small sigh and nodded.

"Good. So…I think that we ought not to keep anymore secrets between each other. You still haven't explained fully about your magic. All you said was that you were born with it. Tell me more please."

"I promised that I would tell you everything about myself and now I will. But before that-" Merlin said.

His eyes flashed a golden hue as he whispered out a spell. Morgana let out a small gasp as the walls in her room began to glow a soft orange shimmer before fading out.

Morgana turned back to Merlin and gave him a questioning look.

"It's just a spell to make sure no one can try listening in on our conversation. What I'm going to tell you is for your ears and yours only. No one else must know who I truly am." Merlin said in a serious tone.

Morgana nodded and Merlin began briefly explaining everything to her.

"So you…you've been prophesised to be the most powerful warlock to ever live and you and Arthur share the destiny of bringing magic back to the land? Arthur is the once and future king? This…this is…" Morgana trailed off, not able to continue the sentence.

Morgana was speechless. She couldn't believe what she had just been told. This was Merlin. Never in her wildest dreams would she imagine that he would be so powerful.

"It was always you wasn't it? You were the one who saved all of us each time. The real hero who hid in the background…you-you saved me from the witch finder Aredian didn't you?!" Morgana said in realization.

She lunged out and gave Merlin a tight hug of gratitude.

"Thank you Merlin," she whispered as she held on to him.

Morgana soon became aware of just how close she was to Merlin a few seconds after hugging him and quickly let go. She lowered her gaze to the ground, not knowing what to say.

Merlin then cleared his throat awkwardly, breaking the silence between them.

"Well my lady…I think…I think that I best be going now. People will start to wonder where I am." Merlin said, scratching the back of his neck and trying not to look at her.

"Of course…when will…when will we begin the lessons to help me control my magic?" asked Morgana quietly.

"Whenever you want my lady. We…we can begin later tonight after Arthur goes to bed. I'll be free of my duties then. We can only practice when I do not have any chores to do. Although knowing Prince Prat, he'll probably give me lots of work to do," Merlin grumbled out.

Morgana gave a small giggle upon hearing the name Merlin had given Arthur.

"Alright Merlin. Tonight it is then. I'll be waiting." Morgana said.

Merlin nodded and got up from the bed, making his way towards the door of her room before turning back to her.

"Goodbye my lady. I shall be going now…I'll see later tonight Morgana." Merlin said.

He made his way out the room, closing the door softly behind him. Back in her room all by herself now, Morgana leaned back and laid down on her bed, a small smile appearing on her face.

_In another part of Albion away from Camelot_

The room was small and dark. In the middle of the room, there was table with huge white crystal placed on top. A woman stood, bending over the table and looking down at the crystal.

"Ætíe mé þá þé ic séce.(Show me those I seek.)" the woman chanted.

Her eyes flashed golden before turning back to their original colour. She gazed into the centre of the crystal, watching silently as it turned black before an image of a bedroom chamber appeared.

She watched as the dark haired woman in the room walked to the door of the chambers and opened it, letting the dark haired servant boy in.

She listened as the woman and the servant boy began conversing with one another. The servant boy utters a spell and a flame appears in his hand.

She looks on as the dark haired woman breaks down crying and the servant goes up to the woman, sitting next to her on the bed and pulling her into a comforting embrace.

She listens as the dark haired woman asks the servant boy to teach her magic and he agrees to do so.

The woman then asks the manservant to fully explain himself. He nods before his eyes flash gold and the image fades.

"Hmm…very clever…using a shielding spell to prevent me from listening in. I knew there was something off about that boy. It seems that he has magic too. Well keep your secrets then, I know enough. It looks like there'll be a change in plans. I'll let him teach her magic but I'll be keeping a close watch." The woman muttered to herself.

A smirk appears on the woman's face as she stood up straight before striding out of the room.

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**Sooooo what do you all think of this chapter? Can anyone figure out who that mysterious woman in the last part is? First one to guess correctly get a special mention from me in the next chapter. (Oh and if I'm feeling really generous maybe, just maybe I'll write a Mergana oneshot dedicated to you. But of course no promises. I'll try though.) Okay people, leave some reviews yea?**

**Now on to the review replies.**

**Lady Flurryous : I really can't stop laughing because whenever I read your review I am reminded of that thought! Ah man! My sides hurt really badly! Stop you stop! Hahahahaha! ;)**

**I luv Milarion 1201 : Is this touching enough? Hope you like this heartfelt chapter! J Can I get an Aww? Haha!**

**Sjritts : Hi! I'm so glad you like this story! Thanks for your review. Hope this chapter was satisfying enough! As you can see Merlin has not really told Morgana about everything yet. (If he had to describe all his adventures...heh there isn't enough time because the list is endless...) I'm planning for her to find out more about the dragon attack later on and that Merlin is a dragon lord. Yea more sweet comforting in the next chapter maybe? For now, she doesn't know about him being a dragon lord and that his father has died.**

**CHARLES CHUKU : Aww thanks! XD**

**Okay that's all for now. I'll see you all in the next chapter! Until then, have a great day everyone!**

**Feyfa, signing out.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Okay people! Guess who is here! Yeah, it's me! I am so very sorry for the extremely long wait but like I have mentioned before, updates can be pretty slow at times as I am really busy and I do have a life outside of the writing world too! Thank you for being such understanding and wonderfully patient readers. **

**Oh yes and before I forget, a shout out to** **Whovain101** **for being the first to figure out who the mystery woman is. OH, AND YOU MUST 'VE BEEN REALLY LUCKY TO CATCH ME IN A GOOD MOOD BECAUSE I DECIDED TO WRITE A MERGANA POEM DEDICATED TO YOU! AND WHAT'S MORE THE POEM INSPIRED ME SO MUCH THAT I DECIDED TO WRITE A NEW STORY. **

**Readers, if you are interested, please do check out the new story I'm writing. It's called Careful Choices, Destined Decisions and Foretold Future.**

**Now without further ado, CHAPTER 6!**

**Disclaimer: Never did own Merlin...*cries***

* * *

_Previously_

_Morgana was speechless. She couldn't believe what she had just been told. This was Merlin. Never in her wildest dreams would she imagine that he would be so powerful._

_A smirk appears on the woman's face as she stood up straight before striding out of the room._

**CHAPTER 6**

The hours of the day passed by quickly. Soon enough, the sun had set over the horizon and the night had arrived. The dark sky was blanketed with many twinkling little stars. The shone brightly like a halo in the darkness.

Merlin stood in the Physician's chambers, bent over his spell book which lay opened on the table. He gave a small frown as he flipped through the pages of the spell book, quickly scanning through the different spells written inside.

"Hmm, this should be simple enough for her… I think I'll start with teaching Morgana the most basic spells first…" Merlin mumbled to himself, deep in thought.

He looked up from his book and stared out the window into the dark night. It was time. Letting out a small sigh, Merlin closed the spell book and stuffed it into his satchel which was filled with a few other books, preparing to make his way to Morgana's chambers.

_In Morgana's room_

Morgana stood leaning over the ledge of the window in her chambers watching the beautiful glow of the moon in the distance. The memories of what had occurred earlier on in the afternoon played over in her mind.

A soft and sudden knock on the door startled Morgana and brought her out of her silent thoughts. She straightened up and approached her closed door.

"Who is it?" Morgana asked softly.

"It's…it's me Merlin milady," came the soft and muffled reply from outside.

Hearing Merlin's voice, Morgana opened her door slowly to reveal the dark haired servant boy standing outside holding on to a satchel filled with scrolls and books.

"You're finally here, I've been waiting. Do come in Merlin," Morgana invited.

She stepped aside, allowing him to enter her chambers. Morgana then shut the door softly after him and turned to face Merlin.

He placed his satchel on the table in her chambers and looked up to face Morgana.

"Well then, here I am. I guess we can begin now milady. But first-" Merlin began.

Merlin's eyes swirled a brilliant gold as he uttered a spell. A soft yellowish glow emitted around them and spread out through the entire room.

"There all done. I've placed a protection spell around the room so that nothing will get destroyed whilst we are practicing. No one will be able to hear us from outside either." Merlin said happily.

"Although just to be sure, we should test it out shouldn't we?" Merlin continued suddenly, his features morphing into a mischievous grin.

"Wait Merlin what are-"

Morgana did not get to finish her sentence as Merlin quickly shot his hand upwards pointing to her bed and shouting out a spell.

"Forbærne! Ácwele" Merlin yelled out and his eyes flashed gold.

Immediately, a burning ball of red hot flames shot out from his hand and headed straight for Morgana's bed. Morgana's eyes widened as the ball of fire made its way nearer and nearer to her bed.

"Wait! No!" Morgana cried out in realization of what was about to happen.

She watched on, rooted to where she stood, as the ball of fire came in contact with her bed. To her utmost surprise, the moment the fiery ball touched her bed, there was a loud pop sound and the ball of fire erupted in a burst of glittering sparks.

Morgana's horrified expression became one of wonder as she stared at slowly fading sparks in the air. Turning to look at Merlin, her awed expression faltered upon seeing the gleeful smile plastered on the manservant's face.

"That wasn't very funny you know, Merlin" Morgana said with an arched eyebrow.

"You should've seen the look on your face milady! You were horrified!" Merlin said, chuckling heartily.

Against her will, a small smile crept out on the edge of her face as she heard Merlin's laughter.

"Fine…it was rather hilarious. You got me there, I didn't expect it." Morgana said, rolling her eyes in amusement.

"Well enough that then. Come on Merlin, are you going teach me or not? We best be starting the lessons now."

"Alright, alright let's begin then." Merlin replied.

And so their lessons began. Each night, after everyone had gone to bed, Merlin would sneak up to Morgana's chambers to teach her on magic. They would spend hours on practicing incantations and spells.

Merlin would then return back to the physician's chambers after their lessons and crash onto his bed, falling asleep immediately from exhaustion.

Morgana was quite a quick learner. She was able get most of the spells that Merlin taught her after a few tries. As the days passed, Merlin and Morgana slowly got to know each other better.

Of course not everything was always a smooth sailing. There were instances where things could get difficult whenever they talked about solemn matters involving magic.

Morgana would easily lose her temper and become upset whenever the topic of the laws on magic in Camelot or Uther's hatred for magic were mentioned. Merlin tried his best never to delve into conversations of much matters.

_About two weeks after beginning their magic lessons_

Morgana let out a frustrated huff as she once again failed to light up the pile of wood in the fireplace in front of her.

"Forbearnahn (Burn up)" she hissed out in annoyance.

Unfortunately for Morgana, neither a spark nor flame appeared. Unable to control herself, Morgana stomped her foot on the floor and let out an angry yell.

She couldn't keep her emotions bottled in any longer. Morgana spun around to face Merlin, who was seating on the side of her bed and watching her. Opening her mouth, she began to rant.

"I don't understand! I managed to start a fire the night before! Why can't I do it now? I've said the spell correctly over and over and there isn't the slightest spark or flame appearing! Why isn't it working? Why!"

She stared at Merlin expectantly, waiting for an answer from him. Merlin let out a small sigh. Getting up from the bed, he walked up towards her, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"My lady, I think that's enough magic practising for tonight. You mind isn't really at ease at the moment and it's getting rather late. I think you should take a break and rest yourself…you must be exhausted from trying so hard."

Morgana just shook her head stubbornly. They couldn't stop now! She had to keep trying.

"No! I want to continue with our lessons! It's the only time I can practice magic. It's the only time where I can truly be myself and be free!" Morgana yelled at Merlin.

"It isn't fair! I hate the fact that magic is banned in Camelot. Uther and his disgusting hatred for magic! This is entirely his fault! He is too blind and afraid to see the beauty behind magic! I hate having to resort to practicing magic in secrecy and living in fear of him finding out what I really am. I will never be safe from him!" Morgana continued to rant.

She glared angrily at the dark haired servant who stood in front of her. Merlin remained unusually quiet. Morgana's temper rose even more at his silence.

"Well, aren't you going to say anything Merlin? Are you not mad at how he cruelly treats our kind? Those with magic are condemned to live a life of suffering because of that monster! How can you just stand there doing nothing and remain silent?! Have you no anger or hatred of what he has done? Surely you must have lost someone-"

"That's enough Morgana!" Merlin roared all of a sudden.

Morgana falters, taking a step back at the unusually cold and hard tone of his voice. She looked at Merlin with wide eyes, blinking in shock at his sudden outburst.

He had a sombre expression on his face as if he was remembering something painfully sad. His eyes looked dull and lifeless, no longer holding the usual sparkle of mirth in them.

"Do you think I'm oblivious to the pain and misery that the king's actions have brought about? Do you think I am not afraid of him because of what I am?" Merlin began softly.

"I've had nightmares of how he cruelly slaughters our kind! I have lost so much because of him and his hatred for magic! I watched with my own eyes as the innocent woman I loved got taken down because she was a druid! I held my dying father in my arms as he took his last few breaths! They didn't do anything wrong and yet they were still killed! Why? It's because they had magic! So don't you dare try and suggest that I do not hold any anger or hatred towards our king! Just because I didn't do anything does not mean I do not detest him!" Merlin shouted, tears beginning to stream down the sides of his face.

Morgana remained rooted to her spot, unable to utter a word. His confession had shocked her to the very core. Merlin took a deep breath and composed himself. He then began to continue talking.

"The only reason why I have not done anything in return is because of my destiny. Do you think Arthur would ever accept magic back into Camelot if I killed his father? Revenge won't solve anything. It just isn't the way to go. Violence adds to the endless cycle of destruction. And after all, killing him would only mean that… I'm as much a monster as he is." Merlin said quietly, looking down.

Hearing him say this snapped Morgana out of her shock. She walked right up to him and lifted his chin to meet her gaze.

"Don't..." She began.

"Don't you ever compare yourself to him, do you understand? You could never be a monster Merlin. You are helpful, kind, caring and loyal. You have never wanted to bring harm to innocent beings. Merlin, you're twice the man he could ever be." Morgana said gently.

She then proceeded to hug him, wrapping her arms tightly around him as he silently wept. They stood in silence for a few minutes, hugging each other in a tight embrace and trying to comfort one another.

"Merlin…I'm sorry for what I said earlier." Morgana whispered out.

Merlin nodded slowly, accepting her apology and slowly released her from the hug.

"Could…could you tell me about them? The druid woman and your father I mean. You don't have to if it hurts too much but-"

"It's okay Morgana. I'll tell you." Merlin cut in softly.

And so, Merlin proceeded to tell Morgana about Freya and Balinor. By the time he had finished his depressing tales, both he and Morgana had dissolved into bundled messes of tears. She cried for him, feeling the pain of his loss.

He had gone through much pain and he still managed to hide everything away. She also learnt that he was a dragon lord. She was amazed and a bit intimidated by how powerful he truly was both mentally and magically.

That night, she learnt a lot more about the dark haired servant.

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**So what do you think of this chapter? I know it's a bit short and I'm so sorry. I hope to get the next chapter up as soon as possible. Hopefully. Well, I guess that's all for now. Until the next time! Now, on to the reviews.**

_**Reviews:**_

**Whovain101 : Yeap, Morgause the meddler. Hmm has a nice ring to it yea? Congrats on being the first to guess correctly! Hope to hear from you again!**

**ClarisseLaRue-DaughterOfAres : Well then, here you are. The next chapter! Glad to hear that you love my story. Sorry for the long updates though.**

**CHARLES CHUKU : Well that's pretty obvious! Muahahaha! Stick around to read what happens next yeah?! *smirks evilly and rubs hands together**

**I luv Milarion 1201 : Hello there, nice to hear from you again! Hmm, was Morgana a little OOC? I thought so…but I like it so I'm going to stick with it! J To answer your questions, the woman was Morgause. Why does evil keep interrupting Mergana…hmmm…gee…good question. Wonder who would be so cruel…*whistles innocently***

**Meri Ley : Thank you very much. I do hope this story continues to perk your interest. It's really fun writing this. I agree with what you say. It will be a rather difficult process Merlin would have to go through. But hey, wasn't there that really famous saying 'Love conquers all'? Let us see who shall win the ultimate battle yeah?**

**falconrukichi : Squee! I know right! Hahaha! Love the pairings so much! XD Glad to hear from you! Do continue reading my story and leaving comments. Hope to year from you again!**

**sjritts : *Straightens coat, raises hand and taps watch* Timing my friend. Timing is everything. Here's some advice. *leans in and whispers* Do continue the way you think because your suspicions are probably right. It will be important! ;-) Baby steps indeed. Aithusa is so cool! Mentioning Morgause and LOTR in the same sentence to me is probably not a very good idea. My head cannot take the combined pure awesomeness that radiates out from them. Hahaha!**

**Argetaie : Yeap yeap! Thanks! ;-)**

**Teekalin : Thank you very much. Glad to hear what you think of the story so far. Who doesn't love the pairing?! Haha! Hope to hear again from you!**

**Lady Flurryous : Very powerful. Believe me. Hahaha! J Yes, they came clear about it. Oh and my friend, I cannot put what you have said into better words. That is exactly what I feel like about the pairing Mergana! Hope you continue reading!**

**dash: Hey there! Thank you for the compliment. I will definitely continue this! Haha!**

**~Feyfa**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey people! I'm back with another chapter! Sorry for the long wait. I've been really busy with school and stuff. Anyways please enjoy this chapter! Sit back and relax everybody!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of them okay! Sheesh! If only though. If only...**

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_Previously:_

_"Don't you ever compare yourself to him, do you understand? You could never be a monster Merlin. You are helpful, kind, caring and loyal. You have never wanted to bring harm to innocent beings. Merlin, you're twice the man he could ever be." Morgana said gently._

_That night, she learnt a lot more about the dark haired servant._

**CHAPTER 7**

Merlin let out a disgruntled groan as the light of dawn seeped into his room through the window.

"You've got to kidding me! It's morning already?! Gods, I'm still so tired." Merlin inwardly thought to himself, blinking warily.

Merlin rose from his bed and stumbled over towards the window. He looked out into the horizon and saw the just-risen sun shining softly, casting a rosy across the morning sky. The dawn chorus of melodic birdsong drifted in.

Rubbing his bleary eyes, he let out a huge yawn. He then raised a hand towards his head and pushed back his unkempt and dishevelled bed hair.

His thoughts went back to the previous night. Morgana had insisted that he stayed longer to practice magic the night before.

They had both become even closer after the night where he told her about Freya and Balinor. He was, in a way, rather relieved to have shared about them with someone else who could understand what he felt.

He didn't have to keep it all to himself. Holding the sadness inside all alone could be rather painful. Ever since that night, Morgana had been asking him to spend more time practice magic.

But of course, they would then mostly end up talking about the things he had done with his magic to save Arthur or his childhood days where he had used magic to play pranks on the villagers with Will.

Morgana listened eagerly to every single tale he told her. Her eyes shining with a certain sort of awe-like wonder in them whenever he would tell her of one of his many adventures.

Now though, he was beginning to regret letting Morgana talk him into doing so. Then again, what could he do when she was a master at convincing people?

"Stubborn woman," he muttered softly to himself.

Letting out a small sigh, he walked out of his room going off to wash up and prepare himself for the day ahead. Thoughts of a certain prince flashed across his mind suddenly.

He let out a groan as he remembered that he should have been already ready with Arthur's breakfast by then.

"Great, the prat's surely going to start complaining when I arrive with his food! I better get moving then. I really shouldn't have stayed up so late practicing magic with Morgana. Oh dear, it's going to be a long day ahead…" Merlin thought to himself miserably.

And a long day ahead it was indeed.

_At the training grounds_

"Merrrrlin!" Arthur yelled out rather loudly in an annoyed tone.

Said manservant's eyes snapped open as he jolted out of his slightly dazed and sleepy state.

"Huh? W-What? Err yes sire, you called my name?"

"What is the matter with you today? You came late with my breakfast this morning and it's the second time I've caught you about to doze off! How am I going to do any training? I can't do my swords practice when you can barely lift up that shield you're supposed to be carrying so that I can attack!" cried an irritated Arthur.

"You just seem to be so tired lately, but today is the worst of all! You aren't even giving your usual witty comments to me. Now, tell me what's going on Merlin!" continued the prince.

"It's nothing really Arthur… it's just…I've just not been sleeping well lately is all," Merlin replied slowly.

"Well you better do something about it soon! Can't have you dozing off like now can we? I need a wide awake servant who can bring me my breakfast on time you know!" Arthur said mockingly.

"What a complete prat…" Merlin muttered under his breath.

"What did you say now Merlin?" Arthur questioned with a raised eyebrow.

Upon hearing what Arthur had said, a mischievous glint appeared in Merlin's eyes and he grinned rather impishly towards Arthur.

"Oh, nothing important sire… I merely stated that it would actually be a rather good idea if you didn't have breakfast all the time. I mean, cutting down on how much you ate and being careful wouldn't be such a bad thing right?" Merlin began.

"After all, we won't want to add another hole to your belt now do we sire? I seem to recall that it was kind of difficult trying to fit you into your belt earlier this morning!" Merlin added on with an innocent voice.

Arthur gave a sharp glare at Merlin. He let out a small growl and proceeded to whack the manservant's head.

"I am not fat!"

Merlin's grin widened.

"Now, now Arthur I didn't call you fat at all! I was merely saying that-"

He didn't get to finish his sentence. Arthur raised his hand and tried to hit Merlin on the head again.

Merlin dodged quickly and chuckled at the annoyed prince. Arthur let out a huff at the manservant.

"I could send you to the stocks for that Merlin. Now shut up. Let's head back inside, we're just wasting time out here. I can see that you're too *weak* to be helping me out with training right now. I doubt you can last any longer out here. Come on then, let's get going. I'm sure you have quite a lot of chores to do anyway." said Arthur tauntingly.

Merlin just rolls his eyes in reply and begins collecting the weapons. The both of them then head off into the castle.

_A few hours later_

Merlin slumped into the chair tiredly. His sore muscles were aching from all the work he had done. He had finally finished the seemingly, never-ending amount of chores he had for the day and was currently resting himself in the physician's chambers.

As he sat quietly to himself, Merlin thoughts slowly went to Morgana and their magic lessons. He began thinking of what spells he could teach that night.

As he went down the trail of thoughts, the idea to pay her a visit suddenly popped into mind. He immediately stood up, deciding to go along with the idea.

Looking down at his right hand, Merlin uttered out a spell. His eyes flashed gold and his once empty hand was now holding a bouquet of pretty little flowers.

A smile appeared on his face and he walked out of the room and made his way towards a certain Lady's chambers.

_In Morgana's chambers_

Morgana was sitting on her bed and humming to herself, alone in her room. Feeling a little hungry, she had requested for Gwen to bring some fruits from the kitchen and was currently waiting for the maid servant to return. A sudden knock on her door had her looking up with a smile.

"Ah, now then, that must be Gwen." Morgana said to herself.

Rising up from where she sat, Morgana walked over to the door and quickly opened it.

"Come on in Gwen! I was just wondering where you- Merlin?" Morgana said in surprise.

Instead of her maid servant, it was Merlin who stood outside her door. He grinned at her and held out a bouquet of pretty wild flowers for her to take.

"How are you doing milady? I hope you don't mind but I've finished doing my chores for today and didn't really have anything to do, so I decided to just come and visit to say hello,' Merlin said with a friendly smile.

Morgana beamed back at him and reached out to take the flowers from him. She then raised the bouquet towards her face and inhaled the sweet smell.

"Why, hello there Merlin... I'm doing just fine. Please just call me Morgana, we're friends after all. It's really nice of you to visit Merlin and thank you for the flowers, they're so lovely. Do come in, I was just waiting for Gwen to bring up some fruits," she said to him.

He nodded and proceeded to walk in. Morgana walked over to her dressing table and placed her flowers in the flower vase. She then, dragged out a chair for Merlin to sit and went to sit on her bed once more. They began chatting away merrily.

_Gwen's POV_

She hurriedly made her way to Morgana's chambers, carrying a tray with plate of delicious, juicy looking fruits. She couldn't believe she had been so careless.

She had allowed herself to have chat with Imogen, the kitchen maid, until she had forgotten all about the fruits she was supposed to bring up to Morgana.

As she walked on, Morgana's chambers came into view. She stopped in front of the door, raising her hand to knock on the door and enter.

Just as she was about to do so however, she was startled by a rather masculine laughter coupled with the soft giggles of Morgana coming from inside the room.

Gwen blinked in surprise and paused in her actions to knock on the door. Morgana was giggling? Slowly lowering her hand, she leaned towards the door, wondering who was inside with Morgana.

"I don't believe it! You really said that to him? *giggles* No wonder he was in a foul mood after returning from swords practice today! You're really lucky he didn't send you to the stocks you know! Arthur is rather vain when it comes to his appearances! *giggles*" came Morgana's muffled voice.

"I'm sorry though… it's my fault you haven't been getting enough sleep. You must be exhausted! Do forgive me, I shouldn't have asked you to stay over so late every night… will… will you still come over tonight?" Morgana's voice continued.

"Don't be silly! Like I told Arthur, I'm just a little tired is all. Of course I'll come over tonight, anything for you Morgana! Besides, I do enjoy spending time with you. If I'll have to sacrifice a bit of sleep to do so, then so be it," replied a masculine voice.

Gwen's eyes widened considerably when she heard the man's voice. She quickly stepped away from the door as if she had been burnt, chocking back a gasp of shock and surprise.

Her mind was in a flurry of thoughts at what she had just overheard. She knew that all too familiar voice anywhere.

She had heard it whenever he came to the kitchens each day in the morning to collect Prince Arthur's breakfast. She heard it whenever he was teasing Prince Arthur in the hallways.

She heard it whenever he stood next to her at the side of the dining table during mealtimes, holding the water jug, ready to serve any of the royals who asked for their cups to be refilled.

It was Merlin! But what do they mean? Asking him to stay over late at night? Spending time with her? Could it be that they… Merlin and Lady Morgana… Lady Morgana and Merlin… surely not! But then again… they sounded really close… too close.

Gwen's mind raced faster and faster. Deciding that she had taken too long standing outside, Gwen walked up to the door and knocked loudly. The muffled chatter ceased immediately.

Opening the door, Gwen plastered a fake cheery smile on her face and entered the chambers. She looked towards Morgana and gave a small curtsey.

"Milady, I apologise for being terribly late. I was having a chat with Imogen, a kitchen maid and I was so caught up in our conversation that I lost track of time. Do forgive me milady."

"Oh, it's alright Gwen. I had Merlin here to keep me company. He was just telling me a joke about Arthur!" Morgana said with a smile looking towards the dark-haired servant sitting on the chair.

Gwen then looked towards Merlin and feigned surprise.

"Oh! Why, hello there Merlin, what are doing here?" Gwen asked.

"Ah… well I came to deliver some sleeping draught that Gaius made for Lady Morgana and I decided to keep her company until you returned." Merlin said a little quickly.

Right, right… and that's why those wild flowers in the flower vase are there when I swear that they weren't there before I left, Gwen thought silently to herself.

"Well then milady, I guess I should leave now since Gwen has returned with your food." Merlin says, hurriedly standing up from the chair.

"Wait!" Morgana cries out.

"Why don't you stay longer Merlin? Since you're already here, you could join us and eat these fruits together. I'm sure Gwen won't mind either, right Gwen?" Morgana continues.

Gwen just shakes her head and observes the interaction between the lady and manservant in front of her. Merlin hesitates at the invitation and seems to be having an inner struggle with himself.

"I don't think that's a good idea milady, I should get-"

"Please Merlin!" Morgana cuts in and proceeds to give him a puppy face.

Gwen's jaw almost drops down in disbelief. Morgana did not just pout at him!

Gwen looks towards Merlin and watches as his decision to say no crumbles down. Merlin lets out a small sigh and nods slowly.

"Fine, I'll stay. But it's only until we've finished eating. I'll need to check on Arthur after that or else Prince Prat will start whining about something."

Morgana's face lights up with a smile and she giggles at the name Merlin had given the prince. She walks over to the small dining table in her room and beckons Merlin and Gwen over.

They all sit down and begin eating. Gwen silently observes as Merlin and Morgana chat away merrily, lost in their delightful conversation.

Yes, it seems that there was indeed something going on between the dear man-servant and the king's ward Gwen thought silently.

_*Time Skip*_

The day passed and night arrived quickly. Merlin was sitting on the edge of his bed clutching the satchel with his spell book. Glancing out the window in his chambers, he took note of the pitch black sky outside.

"Hmm, it's dark enough. Everyone should be sleeping now. Well it's time to go then." Merlin said inwardly to himself.

He stood up, grabbing a coat and wearing it on. Pulling up the hood over his head, Merlin walked towards the doorway of his chambers and silently opened the door.

Peeking out the room, he glanced toward the cot outside where his mentor lay fast asleep. Merlin watched Gaius carefully for a few minutes, listening closely to the older man's even breathing and soft snores.

After being certain that his guardian was truly in a deep slumber, the man-servant quietly slipped out of his room and tiptoed towards the exit of the room.

Merlin slowly opened the door and looked back towards the sleeping form of Gaius before hurriedly sneaking out the room and shutting the door gently behind him.

_Gaius' POV_

He watched quietly from his cot as the door of his ward's room opened silently. He didn't make a sound as the boy looked at him. He remained still as his ward slowly sneaked out of the room. Only when the boy had left did he rise from where he lay.

He sighed and shook his head. He was worried about what his ward was up to. Merlin had been sneaking out in the middle of the night ever since the day after Morgana had awakened.

He had tried to get the dark haired servant to tell him what exactly was going on but Merlin had always managed to dodge his questions and change the topic.

He had a pretty good idea where Merlin might have been sneaking off to and he feared that his guess could be right.

"Oh Merlin, what have you gotten yourself into this time?" he uttered softly.

_Away from Camelot_

"The time has come." Morgause thought to herself.

She had been training the girl long enough for the past few weeks. The girl was ready enough to carry out the task. She would send her to head off towards the castle the next day. A malicious smirk appeared on her features.

"Imogen! Come now, it is time."

A hooded figure stepped out from the shadows of the room behind her and bowed to Morgause. As she rose up, her hood fell back to reveal a young lass with a pretty fairy-like face and long brown locks.

"Yes my lady, I shall do whatever you wish me to carry out. What are your orders my lady?" Imogen asked.

"Leave for Camelot tomorrow at dawn and return to castle as soon as possible. You know what you need to do. The plan shall commence as we have discussed."

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**Okay then! I'll end it off here! Yes, the action will begin in the next chapter. So everyone's probably wondering now who this mysterious Imogen character is aren't they? Heh heh heh! I ain't telling. All I'm going to say is that she is an OC who will be playing an important role in this story! Well, do stick around to find out more! Oh, from now on, I've decided to reply to the reviews through PM unless you don't have an account on Fanfiction that is. Okay the, that's all for now, signing out!**

**~Feyfa**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hi people! I'm back! Thank you for all the previous comments and I hope you readers continue to enjoy my story. Now without further ado...**

**Disclaimer: The show doesn't belong to me, neither do the characters of the show. I don't Merlin...sighs**

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**Chapter 8**

Morgana sat up from the bed slowly as Gaius turned around to face King Uther.

"Milord, I can see nothing wrong with the Lady Morgana. She seems to be in a fine and healthy state." Gaius said to the king.

Upon hearing this, a small frown appeared on Uther's features.

"Then please explain why it was, she almost collapsed just now all of a sudden. Morgana seems to be so tired lately. Surely, there must be something going on. Can you not do anything about it?" he barked out toward the physician.

Gaius lapsed into silence for a few minutes, his mind deep in thought. He then cleared his throat and began to speak slowly.

"I could make her a draught to help with her tiredness but I'm afraid there is nothing else I can do for her. She probably just need more rest. Her body may not have fully recovered from the time when she was poisoned? It could be a possible reason. The poison was a rather strong one milord. This… well… this could be one of the side effects sire."

At this, King Uther gave Gaius a rather formable glare.

"Morgana, you shall return to your chambers and rest yourself for the remainder of the day. Gaius, do prepare that draught for her as quickly as possible. See to it that she gets better." spoke the king.

Morgana bit back a snarky reply and nodded her head silently towards the king instead. She knew that it wouldn't be wise to argue with Uther. She had to be careful. He had been even more protective of his ward ever since the day she had woken up from being poisoned.

If she wasn't co-operative enough, he would most likely keep her shut away in her room with guards stationed outside her chambers so that she wouldn't be able to escape. If that happened then Merlin wouldn't be able to come over at night and they couldn't continue with their magic lessons that she absolutely looked forward to. Indeed, she had to be careful.

_*Time Skip*_

Darkness fell quickly upon the kingdom. Only the sound of crickets in the fields could be heard in the silent night. In the castle, everyone lay fast asleep in their chambers.

_In the King's chambers_

The door creaked open slowly. A cloaked figure slipped into the room silently. The figure carefully approached the bed where King Uther lay asleep. Halting in front of the bed, the figure raised a hand over the sleeping king and whispered out a spell.

"Swefe nu!"

Having uttered the spell, the figure reached into its cloak, pulling out a silver dagger. Grabbing Uther's hand, the figure made a small nick to Uther's hand.

As blood began to ooze out from the cut, the figure quickly kept the knife. Taking out a small vial, the figure then brought it under the bleeding hand and watched as Uther's blood dripped into the vial.

The vial began to fill up with the red liquid. When it was almost full, the figure muttered another incantation and the wound on Uther's hand slowly closed up and healed until it completely disappeared as if it had never been there in the first place.

The cloaked figure then corked the vial and kept it, letting out a contented sigh. With a soft swish, the figure turned around and made its way out of the King's chambers.

Under the light of a full moon, the cloaked figure leaves the castle. The figure silently sweeps through the courtyard and rides off into the forest on top of a grey mare, finally stopping at the base of a rocky slope where a light is shining from a cave halfway up the hill. The figure then makes her way up and passes the guards stationed at the entrance of the cave.

Once inside, the figure halts in the middle of the cave and remains unmoving as if expecting someone. Then, in the most silent manner, Morgause steps out of the shadows.

The figure reaches into darkness of the cloak around it and takes out the vial containing Uther's blood. The figure holds out one hand, handing the vial over to Morgause while the other hand reaches to the hood of the cloak, withdrawing it back.

"Milady, I have done as you asked. Here is what you wished for." Imogen says.

Hearing this, Morgause walks up towards her with a dark smirk. She takes the vile from Imogen and walks over to a bubbling cauldron filled with a thick black gooey substance.

"You've done well. The tears of Uther Pendragon have only begun to fall."

She then uncorks the vial and pours the contents into the cauldron, followed by a strange looking white root that bears a vague resemblance to a man. It sinks into the sludge and a high-pitched scream cuts through the night. Imogen covers her ears in pain.

"The mandrake root is very special. Only those with magic can hear its cries. But for those without magic, the mandrake pierces the very recesses of the soul, twisting the unconscious into the very image of fear and dread. Uther Pendragon will find that his great kingdom counts for nothing when he has lost his mind."

Morgause stirs the brew and chants an incantation as Imogen watches on in adoration. Her eyes glow gold and she retrieves the mandrake root from the cauldron, giving it to Imogen.

"You know what you must do. Go." says Morgause.

Imogen nods her head and takes the mandrake root from Morgause.

_*Time skip a few days ahead*_

From under Uther's bed, the mandrake root can be seen dripping its muck onto the floor, Imogen having hung it there at some point on her return to Camelot. Uther is dressing and getting an update on Morgana's condition from Gaius, who tells him that she seems to have made a rather remarkable recovery.

"She was always like that as a child, very brave. She inherited much from her father."

"Gorlois was a great man."

"Indeed. I trust she will be well enough to attend the feast that is for her tonight."

Outside, Arthur is training with his men as Merlin watches. Arthur is blindfolded and yet still able to fend off his opponent's attacks. On exchanging his weapons he takes the opportunity to tease Merlin about his personal fighting style Arthur clings to a sword and moans out, "Don't hurt me!"

Merlin just remains indifferent to the mocking and silently takes his revenge by magically flinging Arthur's sword out of his hand. One of the knights hits a defenceless Arthur in the stomach with a mace, sending him face-first into a mud puddle.

That night the Pendragon family and the court are enjoying a feast in the banquet hall.

"Standing here, seeing so many happy faces ... it seems almost like a dream. I can tell you, I have not felt like this in a long time." Uther says.

"What, drunk?" Arthur retorts in a tipsy manner.

"Drunk… with happiness… I am so glad that my dear ward has recovered and that she is back to her normal self. Morgana, there are no words. You mean more to me than you will ever know. I will do anything to see that you are safe and healthy." Uther says, gesturing to Morgana.

A toast is raised to the Lady Morgana and she stands up to embrace Uther. Uther seems a bit unsteady on his feet and so announces that he's going outside to fetch some air.

From the corner of the room, holding a wine jug and standing at attention to serve out the drink, Imogen watches him go with a satisfied look on her face.

Uther stumbles out into the central courtyard. He hears someone softly calling his name.

"Who's there?" he asks.

Uther's eyes move across the courtyard and fall upon the well. He moves closer and leans on its side, staring down into its depths. He smiles to himself, finding that there's nothing there. Just as he is about to move away, a white arm shoots out of the depths of the well and grabs Uther's wrist.

He stares down in horror as the white, gaunt face of Queen Igraine looks up at him, screaming shrilly.

"PLEASE!"

Uther pulls himself loose and falls back on the cobblestones, screaming and then panting in horror. The noise brings the guards who gather around him, shaking on the ground.

_In the King's chambers_

Arthur and Morgana help Uther into bed as Gaius and Merlin watch. As Morgana tucks him in, she tenderly takes Uther's hand and kisses it. Beneath the bed, the mandrake root continues to drip.

Arthur approaches Gaius and asks to know what's going on. Gaius reluctantly tells him that Uther was mumbling incoherently, but that there was one word in particular that was very clear, Igraine's name. Uther claimed that he saw her in the well and Arthur is instantly worried that news of this will spread.

Having returned to Morgause's cave, Imogen tells her lady that rumours of the king's condition are spreading. This means that Camelot is vulnerable and ready for an invasion. Morgause then tells Imogen that she plans to go to King Cenred tomorrow. Morgause adds another mandrake root to the cauldron.

Upon her return to Camelot, Imogen finds it difficult to evade the guards. Up on the battlements she runs into one who spots the dripping of the mandrake root beneath her cloak.

Thinking that she is bleeding, he tries to help her, only for Imogen to stab him in the stomach and throw him over the castle parapets. She returns to her room and hides the root in a chest.

The following day, Morgause and her bodyguards ride towards Cenred's citadel. Morgause rides under the portcullis and marches up the front steps, finding Cenred in his throne room.

When Morgause insults him for not meeting her at the border, one of his men draws his sword. Morgause's eyes glow gold and the man is thrown across the room onto a table that breaks beneath him. More men draw their weapons, but Cenred halts them.

"You are very beautiful when you're angry." he speaks.

"Is that why you continue to defy me?" Morgause retorts back at him.

"You wouldn't like it if I made it easy for you." he replies.

The two of them share a laugh. Later on, over some wine, Morgause tells him her plan. Cenred has heard that Uther is losing his mind and Morgause reminds him that this means Camelot is vulnerable, as she promised.

He reminds her that the citadel is still impregnable. Morgause tells him that she has a mole planted within the castle. Cenred doesn't trust in traitors, but Morgause assures him that she's reliable. Cenred sits back, considering.

_Back in Camelot_

The court is gathered in the council chambers. Imogen is secretly listening in on the conversation, hiding away where no one will find her. Arthur informs everyone that mercenaries are streaming into Cenred's Kingdom. Uther is concerned at this.

Arthur suggests that they send out a patrol to find out what exactly their neighbour is doing but Uther's eyes have drifted somewhere behind Arthur. He sits back in his throne, looking horrified.

Arthur looks behind him, but there's nothing there. The court shifts uncomfortably, unsure what's going on. Uther still looks appalled, staring right at the vision standing in the room before him. It's a little boy with blue eyes and bare feet, dripping wet. Uther stands, his eyes fixed on the boy.

"Leave me alone." whispers Uther.

He points and once again the court looks around in confusion. Water drips onto the floor from the boy's clothing and Uther loses it. Arthur reaches for his father, but Uther pushes him aside, shouting in a craze manner.

"Get out! I'll have you hanged!"

Arthur and Sir Leon grab him by the arms and drag him from the room, Gaius follows in hot pursuit. Imogen smiles quietly to herself. In a corridor, Gaius fills Merlin in on what happened.

It seems that during the time of the Great Purge, Uther drowned many people who were suspected of sorcery. Some of them were children. Now Gaius thinks that his conscience has come back to haunt him, but either way, the king's condition isn't a secret anymore. The warning bells start to toll.

Outside, the man that Imogen stabbed has been found. Gaius orders Sir Leon to take the man to his chambers while he speaks to Arthur. In the council chamber, Gaius informs Arthur about the discovery and hands over the murder weapon; it is a small dagger with the Sigel of the Blood Guard on it.

The Blood Guard were warrior priests sworn to protect the High Priestesses of the Old Religion. Gaius then breaks the news that the sentry is still alive. It is only a matter of time before the man awakens and tells them who the traitor is. Hearing this, Imogen tries to contain her panic.

She hurries down the corridor and enters the physician's quarters. Finding no one there except the injured sentry, sleeping restlessly on a cot, she looks around and spots a bottle of poison on a shelf. She takes it.

Merlin and Gaius return to their quarters as Imogen slips away down the corridor. Inside, Merlin goes to check on their patient, only to find him dead.

"You said he was recovering." Merlin says.

"I thought he was." Gaius replies.

"Then what happened? You don't think it's strange?"

"Very." Gaius murmurs.

That night Merlin takes a tonic to Uther and leaves it on his bedside table, noticing how badly the king is sleeping. He adjusts one of the blankets, only to hear the sound of dripping. He leans over to investigate, spotting drops of black gunk on the floor.

Hearing footsteps approach, he slides under the bed and gets a fright when he bangs his face against the mandrake root. He leans away as Imogen's hand reaches under the bed and yanks out the mandrake root. He waits silently as she leaves the room with it, beginning to understand what's happening.

He follows Imogen as she strides through the palace and the lower town, ducking out of sight every time she turns around. Deep in the forest Merlin watches her cloaked figure as she glides through the trees.

He is completely stunned when she is joined by Morgause and her Blood Guards on horseback. Merlin inches closer to listen to their conversation.

"Sorry for the wait. There was much to discuss." says Morgause.

"But your visit was successful?" Imogen inquires.

"Cenred's army ride for Camelot on my command."

"There's nothing you cannot do." Imogen says in an awe-struck tone.

"It is the thought of conquering Camelot, freeing magic and being reunited with my sister back in that kingdom that keeps me going. How goes the battle for Uther's mind?"

"When Cenred marches on Camelot, he will find a kingdom without a leader." Imogen replies darkly.

Merlin creeps even closer, concealing himself behind a moss-covered rock. Imogen tells Morgause that Merlin suspects her ... and that she knows because he's followed her here.

Hearing her say this, Merlin leaps up in fright. Imogen smiles as he makes a run for it. Morgause's Blood Guards chase him through the forest, eventually capturing him.

_Back in Camelot_

Gaius enters Arthur's chamber in order to see how he's doing. Arthur confesses that he has always seen his father as strong and in control, but Gaius gently tells him that the kingdom needs him to now assume control. Arthur is angry at the thought of people talking behind his back and giving up on his father.

_The next morning_

Merlin wakes and finds that he is staring up at the trees. The Blood Guard drag him to his knees and he looks up at Morgause who looks over him thoughtfully.

"You intrigue me, Merlin. Why does a lowly servant continue to risk everything for Arthur and for Camelot? You know the answer, but you're not telling me. Why? Come on, time and again you've put your life on the line. There must be a reason."

"I believe in a fair and just land."

"And you think Arthur will give you that?" asks Morgause.

"I know it."

"And then what? You think you'll be recognised, Merlin? Is that it? All this so one day you can be a serving boy to the king? No...There's something more, isn't there?"

"I've told you."

"Well, you can keep your secrets then. I know enough myself. Do remember that there are just some things that cannot be hidden from everyone." Morgause says somewhat mysteriously.

Morgause begins chanting a few magic words and the silver chains that Merlin has been bound with tighten. He looks up in fear as she and the Blood Guards abandon him.

_Back in Camelot in the physician's quarters_

Gaius calls for Merlin and finds that his bed hasn't been slept in. He goes searching for him and finds Gwen arranging some flowers. As Gwen comments that she hasn't seen Merlin since yesterday, Morgana enters and remarks how strange it is that he's missing.

Merlin begins uttering a few spells of his own on the chains hoping to set himself free, however the chains only seem to tighten more around his body. All of a sudden, he hears the sound of something approaching. Leaves rustle on the trees and a few pebbles slide down a bank. Eventually a group of gigantic scorpions, Serkets appear. Merlin tries desperately to free himself as the Serkets grow in number.

_In the King's chambers_

Arthur sits by his father's bedside, looking teary-eyed. Morgana puts her hands on his shoulders, trying to comfort him. She gives Arthur a small, sad smile and promises that she'll make sure that Uther is looked after.

Morgana remains quiet and composed as she watches Arthur sitting by the king however, behind the calm facade Morgana is having an inner turmoil. Merlin did not come for their magic lessons the previous night.

She had gone to the physician's chambers to look for him earlier on in the morning, only to be told by a worried Gaius that Merlin has not been seen since last night and is nowhere to be found. She hopes that nothing bad has happened to him. Unbeknownst to the both of them, the mandrake root is still dripping beneath Uther's bed.

As evening falls, the Serkets finally close in on Merlin. His power pushes them away, but they continue to circle in. Finally one manages to sting him from behind.

Merlin lets out a tormented roar of distress which sends them flying. He bends over as immense pain sweeps through his entire being. With the last of his strength, he yells into the sky in dragon-speech before collapsing to the ground.

_Up on the hills surrounding Camelot_

Cenred and his army approach the kingdom. He gives a smug smile as he looks on from atop the hills. From the cave, Morgause watches the scene gleefully from her scrying crystal.

Night has fallen and Merlin is lying on the ground helpless. The Serkets have returned and are closing in. Then suddenly from the night sky, Kilgharrah majestically swoops in, breathing fire on the Serkets and almost on Merlin as well.

Merlin's vision goes bleary before fading out into darkness as the dragon gracefully descends, coming closer to him. Kilgharrah's talons close over Merlin as he lifts him into the night.

* * *

**Aaaand CUT! End of chapter! Ok then! It's time to stop for now! **

***Dodges the flying stuff being thrown at me by the readers***

**Yes I have end off now, I hope you forgive me if there are a lot of grammatical errors or if this chapter seems rushed. I have not really had much rest these days as I've been busy with my life outside of Fanfiction (Yes, I have a life other than this one people!).**

** Anyways, life has been pretty tiring and it's night time here right now so, yea I'm sleepy. ****By the way, just so you all know, the next chapter may not be coming out for a while as I've got a very little free time this upcoming weeks. I'm so very sorry. **

***dodges more flying objects from the angry crowd***

**Please do continue reading and enjoying the story though! Oh, one last thing, it's national day in my country so HAPPY 50TH BIRTHDAY SINGAPORE! Wohoo! Well, that's all for now. Signing out.**

**~Feyfa**


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